


Fractal

by australet789



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abomination AU!, Body Horror, F/M, a lot of adrien/plagg interactions, based on my au on tumblr, im sorry adrien, im sorry plagg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9272660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/australet789/pseuds/australet789
Summary: Chaos, besides its own natures, has a little order on it. Chaos, without order, leads to destruction itself. When the object holding the chaos of the world is damaged, maybe a little more than order is going to be needed to fix it. Abomination! AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my first time writing a fic and I'm very excited (and a little bit nervous) about it. The fic is based on an AU I created and that i posted on my tumblr and people became interested on it so I want to explore it a little more. I'm sorry for the gramatical mistakes, English is not my first language and I'm still learning. So if you fin any mistakes, please let me know.
> 
> If you want to see some concept art/info I have for this AU, check this link on my blog: http://australet789.tumblr.com/search/abomination+au

Akumas were always weird.

No matter how intimidating they looked on the exterior, their motives were something that, if it weren’t for the fact they were busy trying to protect themselves, would make their victims tilt their head in curiosity. At least Chat, admittedly, had done that several times in the past.

Didnt’t mean those motives were less important for the akumatized person.

Or make them less dangerous.

“Shockwave” was the name of the new Hawkmoth’s victim. His outfit was something brought up straight of a costume shop: grey spandex suit with a big white drawing of a lighting bolt in the middle of his chest that looked like a stylized “S”, black gloves and a pair of boots of the same color and material and a fanny pack that was hanging lazily around his hips – which seemed to be the akumatized object. But what immediately caught up the attention was the big lighting bulb that acted as a helmet and covered his head and neck. The whole set was a little bit hilarious.

“Chat, stop laughing we have work to do”.

“I’m sorry, my Lady, but you have to admit his looks are kind of _shocking_ to see”.

Ladybug tried to shut down the groan that was forming in the back of her throat, but couldn’t suppress her own mortification at the sight of the akuma’s clothes. If Bubbler wasn’t already bad enough. Her fashion designer eyes were _hurting_.

“C’mon”, Chat said, playful smile on his face, “ _lighten_ up a little, Bugaboo, I bet you have something _brilliant_ to say about his costume too.”

“Chat…” Ladybug said with a dangerous tone in her voice.

“Maybe he just needs someone that guides him through the _dark_ path of bad fash-“

“Alright, fine!” Ladybug hissed, annoyed. “It’s hideous and I want to punch Hawkmoth even harder for his obvious lack of imagination and terrible sense of fashion!” She huffed, glaring at her partner which was obviously enjoying her little display. “Are you happy now?”

Leaning at her slightly, his smile only grew wider. “ _Delighted_ ”.

The heroine rolled her eyes but felt the corner of her lips lift up in amusement. No matter how bad Chat’s puns were, they were still better than seeing Hawkmoth trying to play the fashion designer and she would gladly prefer to spend a patrol with the cat boy just running over the rooftops and beating him at his own game.

But they still had an akuma to stop.

“Let’s go, _minou_ ,” she sighed, throwing her yo-yo to the next building, ready to jump, “we need to stop Shockwave before he reaches the Eiffel Tower and I really don’t want to do my homework in the dark if that happens.”

Chat noticed the change of mood and immediately followed her without saying another word. He knew that while Shockwave looked like a character of a badly drawn comic book, his intentions were far from laughable: his plan consisted of using the Eiffel Tower as a big antenna and with the help of his electric powers, cause a blackout that would plunge the whole city in complete darkness.

With the power out, hospitals, traffic, the communication system, everything would stop working and the city would stay in an indefinite limbo.

They needed to work fast.

While pursuing the akuma, Adrien couldn’t stop himself from remembering his earlier conversation with Chloé –well, a conversation consisting on her just talking and never letting him say a word unless it was to agree with her- and his suspicious about who was the person behind Shockwave’s mask: she has told him about how a boy _‘with a horrible flannel fanny pack, ugh, does anybody have a good taste on fashion anymore? Except for you and me, Adrikins, obviously,’_ -not older than them, probably a recent graduate student- has approached her father’s office to advise him _‘can you believe it, Adrikins, someone telling my Daddy how to do his job??!! Unbelievable,’_ how to better manage the energy cost of the city. The poor guy tried to explain the Mayor –with a big presentation- the whole study he had done and the results he had obtained but, apparently, the Mayor had barely paid attention to him and told him they will “consider his words but right now they have more important things to do”. Disillusioned and heartbroken, the young man left the building crying.

And Hawkmoth took advantage of the student’s anger.

The Bourgeois at this point were almost Hawkmoth’s _sidekicks_.

“Chat, I think he is already there. Get ready”.

Ladybug’s voice brought him up of his thoughts. Hiding behind a wall over a near rooftop, the duo could easily see where Shockwave was standing. Looking up at the big monument from the base, he seemed anxious and excited, twitching his fingers in anticipation, like he was preparing a big attack.

“I think he is measuring the amount of electricity he will need.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Ladybug muttered. “He charges each attack very fast, so we need to get closer.”

The few moments the heroes fought against Shockwave in their attempts to stop him before he escaped, Ladybug noticed the big lighting bulb turning on for a few seconds and after that, the energy formed traveled to his gloves, charging them. If they decided to attack, it’d have to be before that happened.

“Are you sure the akuma is in his fanny pack, right?”

Chat faked a hurt gasp. “How can you doubt my _capacitance_ of recognizing akumatized objects, my Lady?” he pointed to the center of his chest, “my heart _hertz_ over your cruel words!”

This time, Marinette let the groan flow freely through her mouth. Her partner was so dramatic sometimes.

“Fine, I believe you.” Chat grinned looking up at her. “Just, distract him enough while I prepare the Lucky Charm. Don’t let him touch the Eiffel Tower.”

“Got it,” he said. Shuffling his shoulders, he extended his baton.

“And, Chat,” she put a hand on his back, pausing his actions for a moment, “don’t let him touch you either, ok? I need you to win this.”

Chat felt his heart jumping a little and his pulse getting a bit faster.

With a soft smile, he turned back at her. “Don’t worry. I won’t.” And with a two fingers salute, he leaped out of the roof. “He will need to be _lighter_ than this mighty cat to catch it!”

He swears he _heard_ how his lady rolled her eyes at him for the second time that night.

When Chat landed carefully over the streets, the only sound his ears could perceive was his own breathing. He knew everyone were in their houses waiting for this to end or, the ones who were close to the battlefield, trying to get any update about the attack –probably reporters or gawkers. Or Alya- so they wouldn’t try to go out near them or the akuma. For now, he only needed to focus on keeping Shockwave distracted long enough for Ladybug to summon the Lucky Charm.

He moved easily, using the lack of light on the Parisian streets-almost every light had been turned off, thanks to a message sent earlier by the Mayor- and his agility to approach the akuma quietly. He glanced Ladybug out of the corner of his eyes, moving at the same pace as him, body tensed and eyes narrowed in concentration. They needed to be in sync to defeat this guy.

Once he got close enough, he waited for the moment to act. He saw Shockwave’s silhouette standing in the same spot, his hands still shaking with excitement and impatience and it seemed that he hadn’t changed his position at all, but when Chat adjusted his vision he could see the butterfly shaped mask over the akuma’s face and his mouth moving quickly, mumbling something to someone that wasn’t there–Hawkmoth, probably, was giving instructions to his new puppet. There was no time to lose. Chat tensed up his muscles, tail twitching in anticipation, hand clenched over his baton and a snarky line ready to come out of his mouth. He just needed the confirmation of Ladybug being ready and he wil-

His cat’s ears perked up at the characteristic sound of a lighting bulb being turned on, telling him that their time had run out.

It was now or never.

With a rapid swing of his arm, he threw his baton right into the middle of the big bulb, the force of the impact making Shockwave lose his balance and concentration.

“Hey, Firefly!” Chat taunted. “Careful where you put those hands! If you wanted a night tour, you should have asked first!”

The akuma growled in response, moving his head as quickly as he could, looking out for the source of the attack.

“Show yourself!” Shockwave snarled. “Stop being a pest and fight like a man!”

“Oh you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Picking up his baton, he circled the akuma, “unlucky for you, I’m a cat, so I think we already have a little problem with your request,” and with another swing, this time directed toward Shockwave’s feet, he made him fell to ground ungracefully. “Ha! _Grounded._ ” Chat chanted.

Shockwave, however, let out a dry laugh. “Maybe we should _light up_ this situation, shouldn’t we?” And with those words, the whole base of the Eiffel Tower was filled with the brightest light.

And Chat Noir was momentary blinded.

Blinking quickly, he tried to adjust his vision to the new light and regain his composure, but Shockwave was already standing. Two powerful hits –one to Chat’s right arm and the other to his ribs- made him drop his baton and lose his breath.

_‘C’mon, Agreste, you need to fight back_.’

Trusting his other instincts and what he could see with his damaged vision, he tackled the akuma, making them both roll on the ground and he hoped that that was enough to make Shockwave stay, at least, a few meters away from the tower.

_‘Ladybug, where are you?’_ Chat desperately begged.

And like his thought were heard by the universe, the sound of a yo-yo told him that his Lady was approaching them. He sighed, relieved.

He was lifting himself up, his vision finally returning to normal when a powerful grip on his right hand stopped his movements. Chat’s eyes widened when he saw Shockwave’s fingers tugging at his gloves –the finger where his _ring_ was- obviously wanting to take the miraculous out. Adrien desperately tried to recover his hand back but Shockwave hadn’t planned to let him go.   

A vicious smirk crossed the akuma’s face.

“I think this kitty needs to learn how to stay _static_.”

What happened next only took a couple of seconds but for Adrien it was like time has slowed down and make that moment take _hours_.

He could feel the electricity running through his muscles, his bones, his tendons, making his blood boil and his heart beat faster and faster _and faster_. A sudden burst of energy took over his body, like his Cataclysm was activated but instead of staying in his hand waiting to be used, it was all over himself, moving, shaking, _living_. He wanted to scream, he wanted to find his voice but all he could do was moan pathetically, kicking, trying to free himself over the claws of his captor. His ring was beeping uncontrollably, turning on and off without a pattern. His head felt like it was going to explode and his eyes only grew wider and wider…

Someone screamed his name.

And suddenly it was over.

He felt himself floating in the air, all his limbs lethargic and his mind dizzy. He saw the Eiffel Tower getting far, far away from him as well as two figures: a red one (‘ _Ladybug?’_ ) colliding into a gray one, the red one chasing the gray one, the red one…

His body crushed hard against a wall and he slowly fell down onto the cool pavement. _‘Shockwave probably threw me away and I landed in an alley’_ , Adrien thought. Like never before, he felt the desire to take a long nap. But Shockwave hadn’t been defeated yet and he needed to help Ladybug. He groaned painfully at the prospect of moving.

A few seconds later, when his mind was starting to clear, he heard a loud beep and his transformation abruptly wore off.

Putting his pain and his surprise beside, Adrien extended his palms to catch the apparently tired Kwami.

“Plagg?” Adrien poked the cat kwami’s side. “Plagg! Are you okay?”

“Ugh,” Plagg whined, opening his eyes, “kid, what happened? Is the battle over? Can we go home?”

Adrien shook his head. “No, we can’t. Shockwave is still out there.” He noticed he could see the Eiffel Tower from the alley they’d landed, so they weren’t that far. “He tried to pull my ring off,” he continued, “but I resisted and he _electrocuted_ me and apparently threw me in this direction.” Looking into the Kwami’s green eyes, he asked, “Why did my transformation wear off? I didn’t use my Cataclysm. Was it because of the electricity? Is the ring damaged?”

“I don’t know.” Plagg answered. He examined the ring carefully. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“But how do you feel?”

“I-“

But what he was going to say was cut off because of the sight of the Eiffel Tower starting to glow dangerously.

“Oh, no” Adrien whispered. “We need to help Ladybug. Plagg! Are you able to transform me?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He looked at his holder. “But don’t let him touch you again.”

“Awww, you care.” Adrien teased. Plagg only rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breathe, causing Adrien to laugh a little. “C’mon, Plagg. Claws Out!”

* * *

 

Ladybug was _angry._

When she saw Chat being tossed aside like a ragdoll and being thrown away like he was nothing – _like he was dead_ \- her thoughts were _murderous_. The Timebreaker incident was still fresh in her mind and she swore by all the good she possessed that when she finds Hawkmoth she will make him pay for every scratch he caused to her partner. Every angry punch that connected towards Shockwave’s body was a direct message to Hawkmoth:

_‘You hurt him and I will hurt you twice.’_

A part of herself however was telling her to stop and think a plan to cleanse the akuma, that it wasn’t his fault he was being manipulated by a cowardly man that couldn’t fight his own battles, that an innocent person existed under the horrible disguise, not being conscious of what he was doing.

But damn it was hard.

Especially when she kept blaming herself about everything: if she hadn’t been a couple of seconds late, if she had cast the Lucky Charm earlier, if she hadn’t been so damn tired because being a student and a superhero were energy drained and of course the Bourgeois had to be the cause of yet another akuma; that said akuma had not only been a difficult one but she had to spent the whole day chasing it no matter how much work she had to do for the next day…

A moment of distraction was all that Shockwave needed to free himself of Ladybug’s yo-yo and with a strong hit, send her flying away to the other side of the tower, making her crash into the trees and with a final ‘thump’, she landed on one of them.  That only made Marinette more pissed about the whole situation. The battle needed to end now.

She blew her bangs from her forehead with a huff and with a cry she finally summoned her power.

“Lucky Charm!”

_‘Please be an outlet’_ , she thought. The spotted object fell into her palms and Marinette looked at it with curiosity.

“Wait, this is-“

“Oh! A Chinese finger trap!”

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Marinette screeched, not expecting a voice so close to her ear. She barely recovered her breath when she noticed the source of her not-so-nearly heart attack. Which was laughing at her reaction. “Chat Noir!” she lightly punched his shoulder, the scold only making him laugh harder, “don’t scare me like that again!”

“I-I’m sorry, m-my Lady!” Chat said between laughs, wiping a tear from his eye. “But your reaction was priceless!” 

 Ladybug pouted at him.

“Anyway,” Chat continued, taking the magic object from her hands “I used to play with these things a lot when I was a kid.”

He inspected the cylinder and proceeded to put his right index finger into the little toy.

“My dad taught me the trick to not get trapped. You see, once you have both fingers in, what you need to do is push and…” he pushed but nothing happened, “push and…”he tried again, with no success, “I…ehm…wait you need to…” Ladybug started giggling at Chat’s obvious distress.

Now it was her turn.

“My Lady! Help me!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes without stopping her giggles and with a quick move of her wrist, she freed the poor cat boy.

Chat Noir just stood there, slack jawed.

“There. Now, c’mon, we need to stop Shockwave.” Ladybug started to run away but, after a moment of consideration, she turned back towards her partner. “I’m glad you are here.” And with that, she was gone.

Chat only blinked, letting her words sunk into him and finally, after a couple of seconds, a soft smile adorned his face.

_‘Me too’._

When they arrived near the Eiffel Tower, it was almost impossible to look at it: Shockwave had already accumulated a ton of energy and it was a matter of time until he decided to liberate it.

Without wasting any moment, Ladybug threw her yo-yo around the akuma’s feet and pulled on the string with all her force, attempting to drag him away of the tower. Shockwave only managed to let out a yelp before face-planting over the ground.

“Chat!” Ladybug screamed. “His lighting bulb! Destroy it and he won’t have anything to recharge his gloves!”

“On it, Buginette!” Chat prayed that the previous attack hadn’t ruined his powers. “Cataclysm!”

Feeling his usual bad luck running around his arm and having it controlled in his hand once again, Adrien let out a sigh of relieve.

Shockwave meanwhile, attempted to touch the string that tied him down with his electric gloves, causing Ladybug to let him go. The akuma stood up quickly and after a brief appearance of the shaped like butterfly mask in front of his face, he charged towards the superheroes.

Chat Noir jumped over the akuma and while evading Shockwave’s attack, he grabbed his mask with both his hands and he pulled it off like it was a real lighting bulb, his Cataclysm making the glass crack, little pieces falling all over the ground.

The movement made Shockwave fall backwards and Ladybug took her chance to use her Lucky Charm, connecting one of the ends of the Chinese handcuffs to one of his index fingers and using it to pull it towards the other hand and connecting both fingers, closing it like a circuit. The accumulated energy traveled through his body, destroying the fanny pack in the process. A small dark butterfly came out of it. With a shriek, Shockwave fell on his knees, dark energy abandoning his body and a confused young man was left in his place.

 Ladybug felt more relaxed noticing that the fight was over and with a rapid swing of her yo-yo, she caught the running away insect and cleaned it, a beautiful white specimen emerging from her weapon. A soft ‘Bye, bye little butterfly’ left her lips while she watched it go away. With a sigh, Ladybug threw her Lucky Charm up into the air, letting the cure do its job.

Chat meanwhile stood near by the student, his suspicious confirmed about the identity behind Shockwave’s persona.

“Hey,” the student snapped his head towards the superhero, fear reflected in his wide eyes, “it’s ok, it’s over. You are safe now.” Chat reassured.

“W-what…w-where I am?” When the swarm of little ladybugs surrounded them, realization sunk in the boy’s mind. He gulped. “D-did I do something? Is that why you are here?”

“Ehm…” Adrien hesitated for a moment but he knew he needed to tell the truth. Partially. “Yeah, kind of”. The young man dropped his eyes at the fact. “Don’t worry, you didn’t hurt anybody…just blew up a street light or two, nothing big.” Chat explained, not mentioning the early fight under the Eiffel Tower.

The boy, still on his knees, only nodded.

“I just…I just wanted to help, you know. I wanted to be listened to.” Tears were forming in the corner of his eyes, his thumb lazily stroking the repaired fanny pack. “I wanted to prove I could do something for the city I love.”

“I know the feeling.” Chat said. “And I’m pretty sure your ideas are great and will help everybody.”

“You really think that?” The student exclaimed with hope in his voice.

Chat winked. “Call it cat instinct.” Helping him to stand up, Chat continued. “But maybe you would want to make an appointment first, you know. That way the Mayor will know when you will come to talk to him.”

“I will.” Finally looking to the hero’s eyes and extending his hand, the boy spoke with security in his voice, “thank you, Chat Noir.”

Adrien accepted the gest and shook his hand. “No problem, ehm..?”

“Aaron.”

Chat smiled widely. “I can’t wait to hear about you, Aaron.”

Aaron nodded once more and walked away slowly, staring at the big tower that covered the city with its light, a feeling of forgiveness in his heart and a new goal in his mind.

Ladybug, who had been watching the whole exchange from afar, approached her partner quietly.

“I’m happy you talked to him.” Marinette put her arm over Chat’s shoulders, making him jump in surprise. She giggled. “You handled it well, even with what happened earlier.” Hugging him tight, her voice was a soft murmur between the two. “I’m proud of you.”

Adrien thanked the fact he was wearing a mask. And that he had something to blame for his shaking legs.

He coughed awkwardly. “T-thank you, my Lady.”

A beep coming from Ladybug earrings interrupted the moment between the two and, to Chat’s disappointment, Ladybug had to end the contact.

“That’s my cue to go.” Ladybug said. With a final look to her partner, Ladybug swung her yo-yo and leaped away, looking forward the warm of her home. “Goodnight, Chat Noir.”

Chat Noir followed her movements until she was out of his sight, a warm feeling spreading to his chest. Shaking his head, he extended his baton and jumped over a near rooftop, a whisper leaving his mouth and losing itself into the dark night and the silent streets of Paris.

_‘Sweet dreams, my Lady.’_

* * *

 

It took Adrien a few minutes reach the Agreste’s mansion. He knew his father was going to come back late –he was working on the last details of a big fashion show- and that Nathalie was with him, so he didn’t expect anyone to notice his absent nor if there were any lights on.

He wasn’t any less surprised that the only thing that welcomed him was his big cold room.

Still, he was very tired and the previous events were finally starting to show their consequences. The Miraculous Cure helped with the pain and healed the scratches from the battle but the exhaustion was something that he needed to fight on his own. But right now, he only wanted to sleep and relax. He still needed to go to school tomorrow, his schedule was already planned. The next day was going to be the same as ever.

Knowing that Plagg would probably want to recharge and rest, he closed his eyes and said the words that would drop his transformation.

If he weren’t so tired he would have noticed that his ring wasn’t beeping.

If he had noticed the ring wasn’t beeping he would never dropped his transformation.

And if his screams weren’t the only sound that filled the empty mansion, he would have stopped to think that maybe, not everything was the same as before.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who enjoyed the first chapter! I was not expecting all the amazing comments! I'm happy about the reception this fic is having ^_^

Every single cell of his body seemed to be on _fire_.

Adrien’s pulse was erratic and his mind was overwhelmed by the sensations that pierced his brain. Muscles were tense for the agonizing pain that was consuming his senses and breathing was almost unbearable.  He could feel the magic pulsating, playing with his mind, trying to leave his body, but with every pull of it, it was like his skin was being ripped off of his aching form with a sonorous _‘crack’._ The burning sensation of his chest along with the hard throbbing of his heart against his ribcage were suffocating him. The blood inside his veins was hot and cold at the same time and he could taste the iron in his mouth.

It was like he was being torn apart from the inside.

And the only thing he could do was scream.

With the last strain of magic finally leaving his weakened body, Adrien’s figure fell with a loud thud over the cold floor of his room.

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the remaining echoes of his desperate cries. Then everything went silent. As if nothing had happened. As if a teenage boy wasn’t laying in the middle of an empty bedroom, quivering uncontrollably because of the pain he just went through.

Everything was cold.

Adrien felt cold sweat running along his back and forehead, an emptiness in the pit of his stomach that made him want to throw up. His limps felt numb and heavy against the wooden floor. The finger where his miraculous was placed was swollen, the ring still vibrating after the detransformation. There were traces of tears on Adrien’s cheeks, evident over his flushed face.

A gentle breeze touched his skin and Adrien wanted to scream again in agony: everything felt more intense, every beat of his heart was like a punch on his chest.

A soft whimper formed in his dry throat.

His mind was trying to understand what had just happened. Blurred memories of his fight with Shockwave flashed in front of his eyes, but he couldn’t focus for more than a couple of seconds because of a massive headache that only made him feel worse.

Still, he tried to fight against it and think.

 _‘Apparently, Shockwave’s attack did affect the ring.’_ Adrien thought, remembering how the akuma electrocuted him. _‘But everything went normal after that: I was able to transform and even summoned the Cataclysm, and Plagg didn’t find anything wrong with th-‘_

Plagg.

 _‘Oh, no. Plagg.’_ Adrien searched with his tired eyes around the room, looking for his kwami. _‘I hope he is ok.’_

He didn’t need to look that far to find him: Plagg had landed very close to him, lying near Adrien’s bed, his black form standing out over the white floor.

He wasn’t moving.

 _‘No.’_ Ignoring the way his body was begging for him not to move, he reached over the little god. _‘No, no, no, no, no, no, Plagg! C’mon, buddy! Don’t do this to me!’_

When his hand slightly touched the kwami’s body, Adrien felt the usual cool skin burning under his fingers in what could be a fever. Plagg groaned at the contact, curling into a tiny ball while panting strenously.

 _‘I need to cool him down.’_ Adrien forced himself to get up, pushing himself with one hand, while the other was carrying the convalescent kwami. Every muscle of his body screamed in protest. He managed to stand up but his legs were still weak and shaking. When he tried to take one step, his knees buckled in a strange movement and he ended up falling over on his bed with Plagg between his hands.

 _‘No, please, I need to decrease his fever.’_ But his body was no longer obeying to what his mind was commanding. The softness of his bed and the events of the night were finally settling in his tired limps. _‘I need to help him.’_ But his eyes were already closing, his brain asking, begging for him to rest. _‘Please…’_ With a last blink, he could see Plagg’s motionless form, felt the heat near the hand that was still holding him increase, heard the little cat’s rough breathings. 

Adrien finally succumbed to the darkness, who received him with open arms, cradling him into the deepest of the dreams, a silent promise of calmness and relief.

_‘…I need to know he is going to be ok.’_

* * *

 

Marinette was fighting –with no success- to suppress a new traitorous yawn (the tenth one since the classes began) while trying to focus in the lecture that Ms. Bustier assigned to them.

“Marinette,” Ms. Bustier’s voice made not only Marinette jump in her seat, but other students that were dozing off behind her too, “I think everyone here knows already your opinion about the reading, but please, try to be more discrete about it.”

A few snickers were heard around the class while Marinette tried again to fight against her body’s reactions and stop the blush that was starting to cover her face.

“Sorry.” She muttered, covering her face with her book.  

“C’mon, girl,” Alya said after controlling her giggles, “I know this story is kind of boring, but I don’t think that’s the reason you are using our desk as your nap-time bed.”

“I am not doing that!” Marinette glared at her. “I actually seem to find the reading kind of interesting.” They were studying international writers and the book they were reading had in fact caught her attention: she was intrigued as why the protagonist, a young man, was suddenly transformed into a big bug without any explanation. “I-eh …exams are coming next week. I have been putting more effort and studying until late in the night. That’s all.” She couldn’t tell Alya that the real reason she was that tired was her not-so-uncommon fights against supervillains in the middle of the night that barely left her time to pick up a book. She wasn’t lying. Technically.

 “Uh-huh.” Alya was obviously not convinced about Marinette’s explanation. “So this have nothing to do with all the weird looks you have been sending every 10 seconds to a certain blonde while you were asleep instead of reading?”

 “Alya!” Marinette shrieked, heat raising to her face, which caused another reprimand look from Ms. Bustier that made Marinette shrunk into her seat. Her mortification was, obviously, funny to her friend. “It’s not like that! You know I’m trying to be his friend first! I’m just worried about him.”

That was true. Since she decided to get close to Adrien in a friendly way to know him better, she had managed to speak without stuttering that much around him: every morning they greeted at each other with a smile-once or twice, Adrien winked at her, which made her return to her nervous state- and they usually shared a couple of sentences about videogames after school. Late-night chats had also become a thing between them. It started with Marinette asking him about a physics’ problem that suspiciously neither Alya nor Nino hadn’t been able to solve, something Adrien was happy to help with. That developed in Adrien sending her, three days later, a picture of a cat he thought it was funny which only caused to Marinette to critique his sense of humor. Which apparently woken up some sort of comedian beast inside Adrien whose only purpose was to spam her with the most ridiculous memes he could find until she threatened to block him. And like that, they were talking like easily about nothing and everything. Lately they have been chatting about fashion, Adrien telling her about his father’s designs for the new fashion show that he was taking part of and all the troubles the Americans were causing to him. Sometimes, Adrien sent to her some audios of his father’s phonecalls he had recorded without Gabriel’s knowledge which caused them to laugh. She knew that that could put Adrien in trouble, but she was happy he was finally having fun – at expense of his own father, but it was worth it.

This morning however, not only did Marinette beat Adrien in being at class first _(“A real miracle”_ , Alya commented), but he barely smiled when greeted at her – only after Nino nudged him hard. Without seeing his eyes, she knew that Adrien was having troubles keeping them open, judging from all the times he almost knocked his desk with his head. She had also noticed the bags under his eyes when he entered the classroom (not matter how much make-up he put on his face) and the thin sweat that seemed to be covering his skin that only increased his sickened appearance. More than that, every time Adrien woke up with a jolt, he checked his bag like he was expecting something to happen inside it.

So, yes, she was worried.

 “Maybe he is waiting for his father to call?” Alya commented after Marinette expressed her concerns about the model. It wouldn’t be the first time Gabriel Agreste pulled his son out of the middle of a class for a random photoshoot. “Did he tell you something last night?” Alya obviously knew about Marinette’s and Adrien’s night chats, who congratulated the shy girl for her progress the next day after the first conversation, _‘See! I knew you can do it! That’s my girl, everyone!’_

“No, he didn’t.” She needed to check her phone later to be sure.

“Uhm,” was Alya’s only response, who returned to her reading when she noticed Ms. Bustier looking at her as a warning sign, letting Marinette alone with her thoughts.

 _‘Maybe Alya’s right and he is only waiting to be called for a photoshoot. The show is in a few days and there are always last minute adjustments. That’s normal. And he probably caught a cold and that’s why he looks sick.’_ Satisfied with that logic, Marinette lowered her sight to the book on her hands. _‘But that doesn’t explain why he didn’t text you last night.’_ A little voice in the back of her head reminded her.  Trying to not overthink it and with a shake of her head, she continued with the assignment.

Her mind, however, was against the idea of her knowing what was going to happen to the bug-man, so her thoughts wandered around the memory of another blond she was worried about.

Because while the fight against Shockwave made her go home really late, what woken her up in the middle of the night were the memories of Chat being electrocuted mercilessly by the akuma. Her dreams were plagued with the image of her partner laying on the cold ground at her feet, eyes closed and with no sign of being alive. No matter how many times Tikki reassured her they were only dreams, that the Miraculous Cure had healed him and that Chat was ok, the knot in her throat and the tears that prickled the corner of her eyes at the sight of the memory refused to go away until she hugged herself to sleep. It was like that time after the Timebreaker incident. Sometimes both memories fused in her nightmares.

 _‘Stop thinking about that cat, you need to focus on your homework.’_ Marinette told herself. _‘He is probably goofing around right now, looking for puns on Google or something like that.’_ She interrupted her thoughts glazing quickly at Adrien who finally hit his head against the desk which caused a snort from their classmates, a worried look from Nino and a glare from the teacher. With a soft apologize and rubbing the place where his forehead was turning red, Adrien picked up his bag and rummaged through it once more, looking for something he didn’t find after a few seconds -judging the look on his face- and with a sigh, he lowered it down.

Marinette, as well, sighed, giving up on the lecture.

 _‘But at least I can check on Adrien here while I only see Chat when something bad happens.’_ Or during patrols, but those were very random and they usually didn’t talk that much, only to say hello and discuss where to go, often in separate directions.

_‘Maybe I need to give him a call. Just to see if he is fine.’_

* * *

 

For Adrien, the whole day seemed to be like being in a constant limbo.

Waking up that morning was already a painful task: a soreness he didn’t feel since the day he decided he wanted to go to school - climbing down from the second floor of the mansion seemed to be a good idea that day, which resulted in a nasty fall and a bunch of bruises- was the first sensation he perceived when he opened his eyes. For a moment he wasn’t even sure where he was. His eyes were already closing again, when a slightly movement under his fingers jolted him awake, memories of the events of the night before flashed through his mind, reminding him the reason behind his pain and how he ended up unconscious on his bed with a fevered Plagg under his palm. Not feeling any heat coming from beneath his hand, Adrien carefully lifted it up, fearing that the kwami wasn’t there or that something worse happened when he fell unconscious. Relief washed over him when he saw Plagg snoring softly and that his fever apparently was already gone.

Taking a deep breathe, Adrien forced himself to stand up and get ready for classes. He couldn’t afford the luxury of missing one class since exams were close and his father was expecting nothing less than the best of him. Even with the previous tutoring, he knew his father was watching his performance and Adrien was not going to give him a reason to forbid him again from going to school.

He left the slice of Camembert he couldn’t deliver to the kwami the night before next to Plagg and went to take a shower, hoping the hot water would calm the intense pain of his muscles. Under the water, Adrien felt how it took away the sweat from his skin and helped to decrease the discomfort of his aching limps: he wished to stay like that forever.  However, his time in the shower ended quicker than he expected when his knees began to tremble.

Not wanting to effort his body more, he took the first pair of clothes he had already selected the day before (he usually did that in case he was called for an unexpected photoshoot or an akuma attack went wrong) and proceeded to get dressed sitting on his bed. The action itself took it more than usual and after putting some make-up to hide the big bags under his eyes, he finally was ready before Nathalie told him the Gorilla was already waiting.

Adrien used that few minutes to think about the horrible way his transformation went off. He was confused as why Plagg told him that everything was alright with the ring when it obviously wasn’t the case. He looked down and taking the ring out of his finger for a moment, he examined the miraculous: the now gray object seemed to be normal despise of what happened the night before, so what was it?

“I don’t get it.” Adrien murmured, putting his ring on his finger again. “Plagg, what do you th-?”

Adrien abruptly cut off the question his mind was forming when he noticed that the cheese was still in the same place he put it minutes ago, untouched.

And that Plagg hadn’t moved at all from his position.

“P-plagg?” No response. “Hey, Plagg. I kn-now this is not the freshest cheese out there but you need to recharge. I have to ask you something.” Nothing. “Plagg, if this is another of your pranks I swear I’ll…” but the threat died on his mouth when the kwami stayed motionless. “Plagg, you are worrying me, you need to get up.” He shook the chaos god a little, but nothing seemed to wake him up.

Before Adrien tried something else, Nathalie’s voice informed him that his breakfast was ready and that the Gorilla was already there to bring him to school.

Seeing that Plagg was going to be asleep for a while, Adrien picked him up carefully and put him inside his bag, as well as the piece of Camembert. He hoped that Plagg would finally wake up between the lessons,  so Adrien could questioned him about the ring later.

Once inside the car, a new wave of tiredness spread inside his body, making him doze off almost instantly. Apparently walking down the stairs was already too much for him.

He didn’t know how he managed to go inside the school and not faint in the process.

When he reached the classroom, he was sweating again mostly from the way his muscles were aching and his lungs burning than the effort itself. Sitting on his desk, he wanted to curl up and sleep like a cat and never wake up again. But reality reminded him –in the form of Nino’s elbow- that there were other people in the class and that he couldn’t act like animal his alter ego represented (not matter how tempting that sounded). He also almost forgot to greet Marinette because of the pain and he quietly cursed himself about it: talking to her was something he treasured and impatiently waited to do every day since they started having more conversations and she was taking a place in his heart as a friend he cherished the most, apart from Ladybug.

There was something about Marinette that exuded trust and he found himself wanting to tell her stuff he usually didn’t speak with anyone, except from Plagg, because he knew she would understand. Also Marinette seemed to read him like an open book, especially when he was having a bad day, something that surprised him once or twice when she pointed out something about his behavior he was sure he was hiding to everyone.

So no matter how much he forced a smile to her, he knew that Marinette suspected that something was wrong with him and would probably ask about it later that night. He wasn’t sure what he was going to tell her though.

Instead, Adrien focused on staying awake during the classes, something that he painfully-literally and metaphorically- failed, with the goal of check on Plagg every 30 minutes to see if the kwami had finally woken up. But his naps during the lessons messed up with the way he perceived time so instead of following his initial idea, he checked the bag when he could.

When the last class finally went over -where he spent the whole time drooling over his notebook and writing nonsenses when he was barely awake for a couple of seconds, forgetting to check if Plagg was already woken up-, Adrien only wanted to go back to his room, jump into his bed and sleep until the day the tests would begin. But he still needed answers about the Miraculous. He planned to check on Plagg once they went back to the mansion.

He was getting comfortable in the back seat of the car, when Nathalie informed him that his father wanted to see him immediately to discuss something important. Adrien raised up his eyebrows in surprise. His father never talked to anyone that weren’t his employers when a show was in progress and Gabriel already told Adrien that he wasn’t going to take part of the show because he knew how important the evaluations in the school were and was letting him study the whole week.

Unless Gabriel decided to change his decision in the last minute.

Adrien clenched his hands around the strap of his bag. That wasn’t something new. If his father had the power to take him away from regular classes just for a photoshoot, he would want his son in the show no matter if Adrien had other important things to do.

Letting out a deep sigh, he threw up his head back and closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself to say yes to whatever his father was going to tell him.

How much he would have liked Plagg to be awake to support him on this.

* * *

 

“Nathalie, please, close the door when you leave. I don’t want to be bothered while I speak with Adrien.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gabriel Agreste’s voice was firm and the sound of it echoed in the big room that was the man’s office. When Nathalie left, Adrien was standing at the door, looking at his father’s back, realizing how much his presence filled the almost empty space. He twitched his foot, because of nervousness and to sooth the still present sore in his body. No way he was going to faint in front of his father because of a pain he couldn’t explain not even to himself. So Adrien waited patiently until his father decided to speak again.

“A very important fashion show in New York is taking place in two days,” Gabriel started telling, not turning back to look at Adrien, “and I’m not only organizing part of it but a new line from the Agreste’s brand is going to be presented. A beautiful collection of night outfits…”

 _‘…based on diverse species of butterflies around the world.’_ Adrien muttered to himself, remembering how he and Marinette had commented about the designs, sometimes Marinette expressing her opinions about how some of the suits could be changed to be more practical.

  “…based on diverse species of butterflies around the world.” Gabriel finished, finally turning back to look at his son. The icy-cold stare of his father lingered on him for a moment before continuing. “But I think you are aware of that already.”

A blush that had nothing to do with the lack of good sleep started to form on Adrien’s cheeks at the comment.  The hand that was holding the strap of his bag firmly gripped around it. There was no way his father knew about his night conversations with Marinette, didn’t he? He couldn’t know about the way he imitated his way of speaking, all the audios he sent to her, _oh God_ , the memes they made with the photos Adrien took…

 That was it, he was going to be pulled out of school because of memes.

 “Y-yes, f-father. I’m aware.”

Gabriel hummed in agreement. “And Nathalie told me your school is evaluating your class next week, is that correct?”

“Yes, father.”

“Good. I see they take youths’ education seriously.”

“They do, father.”

At this point, Adrien was sure there was a little pool forming beneath him because of the amount of sweat that was coming from him.

“Very well then.” Gabriel said. “I think the decision I made is the best for you and that you are a young man who can be responsible and take care of yourself and have excellent grades at the same time.”

Adrien blinked.

“I’m travelling to New York.”

Adrien blinked again. That wasn’t what he expected to come from this conversation.

“I was informed this morning that there were some troubles with the organization of the show and that my presence was required to help the _Americans_ with it.” Adrien was sure that that wasn’t the exact case. If something, Gabriel had surely insisted the New Yorkers to accept his _help._ “I’m going to take the first flight early morning tomorrow. I’ll be back in five days. Nathalie already cleared your schedule so you don’t need to leave the house unless you need to go to school, leaving some time for you to study. Any requests for extra activities with your friends will be given directly to Nathalie. If you want to go out with them, you’ll need my permission first. The staff were already informed about my trip so you don’t need to worry about them, they will continue their activities as usual.”

“I expect,” Gabriel continued,” that I can trust you and that I won’t need to regret my decision when I come back. “

Adrien was ecstatic. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. His father _, Gabriel Agreste_ , was leaving him alone for five whole days. He was free for five days. Sure he still needed to ask permission and barely leave the house but he was free. And he could invite his friends! He could show them the mansion and study in group together and maybe they could have a sleepover, his first sleepover…

A sudden groan coming from his bag popped out the fantasy bubble that had been forming in his head and almost made him forget about the problem he needed to solve first.

He coughed loud enough to cover the sound. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, confused at his son’s sudden behavior.

“T-thank you, father!” Adrien shouted. “You need don’t to worr- I mean! You don’t need to worry! I can handle being alone! You won’t regret trusting on me with this! I p-promise!” He finished with an almost forced smile, holding tight the bag against his side when he felt Plagg starting to move.

With a final nod, Gabriel dismissed his son, saying that he needed to collect some stuff before parting to New York.

Adrien quickly went up to his room, his pain finally subsiding because of the adrenaline: not only was his father letting him free for almost a week but Plagg had finally woken up! Finally Adrien could ask him about what happened and if there was a way to fix it as soon as possible.

“Ugh, kid, you never clean this thing? Let me out, I’m asphyxiating here.”

“Plagg!” Adrien was so happy to hear the snarky kwami’s voice again. “I’m so glad you are awake! I have so many things I want to ask you about the ring.” Opening his bag to let Plagg out, he continued. “But first, you won’t believe what father said! He is going to travel and we’re going to be alone for a week! Well, technically five days but still! We are going to be alone! And I can invite my friends! And we cou- AHHHHHHHHH!”

“Argh!” Plagg screeched, covering his ears. “That hurts! Why are you screaming?!”

Clasping a hand over his mouth to prevent anyone to hear him, Adrien could only stare horrified at his kwami.

Because instead of bright emerald eyes, yellowish green sclera were looking at him in confusion, big fangs the same color as the eyes covered Plagg’s face in a grimace that deformed his features. But what Adrien was looking at most were the little drops of black substance that seemed to come from Plagg’s body, falling over the floor of his room, forming a little puddle of black liquid.

The same liquid that could be seen in the bottom of Adrien’s school bag.

Plagg –Adrien realized- was melting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for taking so long to update! This chapter has been a difficult one to pull out because it got longer the more I keep writing. This monster of a chapter has over 8k words xD
> 
> I promise next one is going to be shorter.
> 
> There are some easter eggs here, let's see how many of you get them :D
> 
> Also I have a beta know! Thanks to @lunalocura (http://lunalocura.tumblr.com/) for being an amazing person and helping me with the chapter. 
> 
> P.S.: Did you know which book Marinette and her clasmmates were reading in the previous chapter?

“Alright. This is definitely not okay.”

“You think??!!”

Adrien was very close to losing his nerves. He tried to keep himself calm, walking quickly around his room with big and steps: screaming would only get him discovered by Nathalie or, even worse, by his father.

Plagg, on the other hand, was sitting relaxed on Adrien’s desk with a half-eaten piece of Camembert by his side. The amount of melting decreased after Plagg ate a bit, but the black substance continued to drip off the kwami.

“Kid, stop walking in circles, you are making me dizzy,” Plagg said with a lazy tone, taking a small bite off of the smelly cheese (which looked even creepier with Plagg’s new appearance).

“How can you be so calm about this?” Adrien directed a bewildered look towards his kwami. “First, you didn’t tell me about the ring being damaged after Shockwave’s attack and t-then the detransformation almost killed me and you!” He pointed an index finger towards the little god, “you were sleeping all day and now you are melting and you just don’t car-“

“Hey! I do care!” Plagg shouted. “Just because I don’t look worried doesn’t mean I don’t care about what is happening around,” leaving his food behind, he flew towards Adrien’s direction, stopping mere millimeters away the boy’s nose. “Especially,” he narrowed his eyes, which were more frightening than before, “if a chosen of mine is being hurt because of it,” he finished, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at a now ashamed Adrien.

 “Sorry,” Adrien whispered. Being lectured by Plagg always reminded Adrien that no matter how lazy and cynic the kwami was, he was still a powerful being with 5000 years of experience.

Plagg only huffed.

“The ring is not broken,” he explained after a few seconds. “Serious damage to the Miraculous wouldn’t have let you transform in the first place, because I wouldn’t be able to get into the ring, or detrasform either, because I would have been ended up trapped inside the ring. And that’s not funny, trust me about it.” Adrien frowned at the thought of it, feeling sorry for the holders that had to live through that experience. 

“Now, I can’t say anything about your detransformation, because I wasn’t there. Technically.” Plagg explained to him once that although kwamis could watch what their chosen were doing while transformed, that ability was strained to what the Miraculous user was perceiving in that moment.  If something passed through the holder’s senses without being detected, the kwami would not perceived it either.

Noticing that the melting was beginning again, Plagg returned to the desk, grabbed the rest of the cheese, and in a quick move he devoured the rest of his snack, followed by an audibly gulp.  “But about me being asleep, well, all I can say is…” Adrien leaned forward, expectantly at what his kwami was going to say.

“…that I was tired.”

Adrien was _this_ close to forgetting everything and start yelling.

“Are you serious??!!” Adrien ran his hands over his hair. “Are you telling me that I was worried all day while you were happily napping inside my bag?”

“No.” Plagg retorted. “I’m telling you that whatever Shockwave did was strong enough to knock me out and not let me move not matter how much cheese you put in front of me.”

“But, you didn’t even try to wake up…”

“Nah. Why fight against it? I was tired, I slept. Period.”

Adrien sighed and slumped over his chair. This was leading nowhere.

“Why you don’t tell me again about what happened when you detransformed?” Plagg asked. “Maybe we missed something.”

“I…” Crossing his arms over himself, Adrien lowered his gaze. “I don’t really want talk about it.”

The first time he told Plagg about what happened it was like reliving those painful seconds all over again. He got goosebumps and a lump formed in his throat while describing it. For a moment even he thought he was going to have a panic attack.

 He could also swear that he saw Plagg wincing at some moments during his story.

“Ok, then, how about what happened before?” Plagg insisted. “Did you notice something weird when you used the Cataclysm?”

“No, it felt…normal.” Adrien remembered, looking at his hand where his Miraculous was. “After I left the alley, everything went like usual: we fought the akuma, Ladybug used her Lucky Charm, I used my Cataclysm, she cleansed the akuma, we comforted the civilian and then we parted ways. Well, she h-hugged me a little,” Adrien blushed at the memory, “but that couldn’t be the cause! It only last a few seconds-unfortunately- because her earrings beeped and th-“

Wait.

That’s it.

“Plagg! That’s it!” Adrien exclaimed. “The earrings beeped!”

“So?” The Kwami titled his head. “That’s what Miraculous do, remember? Do I have to explain you again how do they work? See, this is why I suggested to record these kind of conversations and put them in that internet cloud thing so I wouldn’t have to explain it over and ov-”

“No! Argh, Plagg, forget your YouTube channel idea already!” Adrien cut Plagg off before he started to complain about how humans were wasting the use of modern technology instead of helping him to reduce his work. “The earrings beeped after Ladybug used her power,” Adrien reiterated, “but my ring didn’t after I used mine.”

That seemed to catch the kwami’s attention.

“Are you sure about that?”

Adrien nodded. “I didn’t notice it before because I was err- _distracted_ and wanted to go home fast.”

“Kid,” Plagg said, “do you know why I eat before and after a transformation?”

“Because you are a pig?”

Plagg frowned. “Don’t you dare compare me to Pig, I have a more refined taste than that jerk.”

“We kwamis are beings formed of energy,” Plagg began explaining, “said energy is compressed into the objects that we are bound to and that you, our chosen, use to unleash the special powers that we bring to you. Those powers are part of that energy, so every time you use your Cataclysm or Ladybug her Lucky Charm, you are using part of our energy. Since you two are the most powerful holders, that means that the amount of energy that we liberate is even bigger than the ones from minor Miraculous, like Hawkmoth’s.”

“That’s the reason he can create two or even three akumas in such short time: the Butterfly Miraculous’s energy used is small, allowing him to form an army and not become exhausted. But his range of attack is smaller compared to the Cat’s and Ladybug’s. He may have quantity but we have quality.”

“So you need to recharge to compensate for the loss of energy,” Adrien concluded.

Plagg flew again near his face again and patted him lightly in the cheek.

“See, I knew I had a smart one.”

“Shut up.”

Plagg laughed at him but that caused him to cough roughly, spitting black goo over Adrien’s floor. A silence formed between the two, who were looking at the substance on the wood.

A reminder that they needed to find a solution fast.

“So,” Adrien started to say something just to break the awkward silence, “m-maybe the ring didn’t beep because it regained energy from another source? Perhaps Shockwave’s attack cause an overcharge of energy and that’s why the ring didn’t beep since it was using the electricity to recharge itse-“

“Wow, who’s that ugly face?”

Adrien rolled his eyes up at the lack of attention of his kwami.

“I told you already to stop looking at your reflection in my window if you are going to be surprised every time.”

He felt a sudden pain on the back of his head.

“Ow! Why the aggression?!”

Twitching his tail –which was obviously used to hit him- Plagg pointed his tiny paw to whatever was happening outside.

“I was talking about _that_.”

When Adrien looked through his window at first didn’t noticed anything weird. But then he watched carefully…

“Plagg, tell me you are seeing the green hippopotamus with a mustache and the pink tuxedo.”

Plagg nodded slowly. The hippopotamus was stood on the street, looking to the right and left repeatedly, like he was deciding to cross it or not. It looked like a character from a Disney movie. In fact, Adrien noted, he was cartoonish.

He was so mesmerized looking at the weird creature and doubting about his own sanity that he didn’t see that Plagg abruptly changed his gaze in the direction of the near rooftop until the kwami pulled him by the collar of his shirt.

“Uh, kid, we have a problem.”

Following Plagg’s vision, Adrien spotted what could be added to his list of “current problems that need to be fixed before father goes to New York”.

Because at that moment what it seemed to be a big blue-green cartoonish dragon appeared around the corner of the street.

“My name is Twinkle Twister,” said the enormous beast, which voice resounded to all Paris, making the windows vibrate, “and I’m here to make some friends!”

* * *

 

Marinette entered the bakery trying to leave the thought of the two blondes of behind, as Alya suggested, when she got back from school. She wanted a peaceful night without worries: akumas and homework (and tests) were already a big weight to carry on her shoulders, adding up the problems of two of the most important people in her life would only going to make her have more nights of insomnia.

She was thinking about it too much, she knew.  But she couldn’t stop being worried about her friends: Ladybug and Chat barely talk with each other during patrols, and from the little she knew about him, he wasn’t really close to his family. He also had the bad habit of hiding his feelings under all the flirting and the nonchalant attitude, especially when he was hurting, so she was sure that if Shockwave’s attack had injured him badly (mentally and physically), Chat would prefer to stay silent. Adrien shared the same habit, although he used fake smiles instead (years of practice in front of the cameras, probably). He had recently started to be more open about his feelings, not only with her with their night chats, but with Alya and Nino too, showing them photos about his mother –something that even Nino knew very little about-and telling some stories about the things he used to do with her to make them laugh. Marinette knew that Adrien missed her mother dearly (for what she could notice when she was there as Ladybug) so she was happy about his development.  But when Nino told her after school that Adrien hadn’t spoken to him about why he had been sleepy during the classes or even said goodbye, Marinette was worried that he was hiding something.

She sometimes hated to be the mom friend with those two.

“Hi, sweetie, I see that you are already back from school.”

“Hi, Mom. I’m going to check the notes from Ms. Mendeliev’s last class, so maybe I’m not going to come down to din- Oh! Hi, Ms. Chamack!” Marinette smiled at the woman blushing slightly, not noticing her before for being so concentrated on her thoughts.

“Hi, Marinette. It’s nice to see you,” replied the woman with a warm smile. “Studying already?”

“Yes! I’m trying to not overwhelm myself with the classes so I’m studying before hand.” Not to mention that people use to be more stressed during these days, which means more akumas and less time to study for her. “How is Manon? Is she here with y- huff!”

Something, well _someone_ , crashed with her, answering her incomplete question.

“Marinette!” A very excited Manon exclaimed while hugging Marinette with all her force her little arms could provide. “You are here!”

“Yes, Manon, I live here.” Marinette managed to say breathlessly. She untied the little girl from her, finally able to get some air. “It’s nice to see you too.”

She could hear her mom’s and Ms. Chamack’s giggles at her reaction to Manon’s excitement.

“Marinette, Marinette, come! I want you to meet my friend!” Manon said while she pulled Marinette to make her move.

“Friend?” Marinette then noticed that in the corner of the bakery, sitting on little plastic benches, using one of her old table toys she used to play with when she was younger, were other two kids: a little girl wearing a pair of white shorts and a cotton pink t-shirt with the picture of a bunny, whose hair was pulled in two braids, was drawing on several white sheets of paper with crayons of different colors (surely provided by her mom for her and Manon) and a boy (who was older than the girl) wearing a pair of military stamped shorts, a cotton prussian blue t-shirt with the head of a roaring tiger on the front and a red vest, was sitting uncomfortably next to her playing with his cellphone.

“They are Maya and Bruno. Maya is Manon’s friend and Bruno is her brother.” explained Ms. Chamack. At the mention of their names, each kid waved at Marinette respectively, Maya raising up her head and giving Marinette a big grin but Bruno continuing to looking at the screen of his phone while doing it.  

“They are the children of an old friend of mine and they have just come from Peru a few days ago for vacation. They have been doing that for the last couple of years because my friend wanted her children to know about the country her mother was from.” Marinette understood: she was half-Chinese and her mother was always teaching her about Chinese culture. She wanted some day to visit China someday too, to know more about her family. “Right now she is doing some paperwork, so she asked me to take care of them while she was out. But the kids got hungry so I decided to bring them to the best _boulangerie_ of Paris.”

“Stop with the praising, Nadja, or Tom might hear you”, Sabine joked.

“Nothing but the truth, Sabine.”

“Marinette’s parents make the best sweets! I can’t wait!” Manon exclaimed, elbowing her friend. “You’re gonna love them, Maya!”

Marinette rolled her eyes at Manon’s burst of energy. Maya only laughed softly.

“Welll, Manon, give me a couple of minutes and yours and your friends’ order is going to be done, ok?” asked Sabine with a smile.

“Yes, Madame Cheng!” Manon shouted while doing a military salute.

A loud ringtone interrupted the calm atmosphere of the place.

Ms. Chamack sighed and pulled out her phone. “Seriously, again? These people can’t do their job without bothering other’s people life, can they?” She turned around and exited the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery to answer her call. “Jason! How many times I told you t-…No…Yes…No. Absolutely no, do you want our heads cut off? Jason, I swear to…” The door closed up behind her with a big ‘bam’, making everyone shrink with the force of it.

Marinette looked at her mother. “Sooooo… how long have they been here?” She inquired, finishing her question pointing at Maya and Bruno with her head.

“I think almost two hours.” Sabine answered. Marinette hid her face behind her hand and murmured and pathetic _‘Mom’_. “Ms. Chamack has been doing that almost every 10 minutes”, she calmly explained her daughter, pointing at the door, “and I think she kind of forgot about the time. I asked your father to bring down the old benches and your plastic table when I realized it was going to take time.” ‘ _That’s why that old thing is down’_ Marinette though. “I hasn’t been inconvenient, having them here, they have been pretty much quiet.”

“I know, Mom.” Marinette could see Ms. Chamack through the window of the bakery, a big frown on her face while her lips moved quickly. She knew the woman loved her job, but Marinette wished she was less _intense_ about it.

“At least she is trying,” Sabine noticed, reading her daughter’s mind.

“Yeah. She probably still feels responsible of the P-u-p-p-e-t-e-e-r incident.” Marinette whispered to her mom, trying to not be listened by the ex-akuma victim.

“What Puppeteer?” Manon suddenly appeared next to them, staring at Marinette with her inquisitive eyes, making Marinette shriek in surprise.

“I…ehm…nothing!” Well, there went her efforts to be subtle “I was…uhm...talking about a Puppeteer show in the park!” She replied quickly. “Yes! About a princess and a…dragon! That was what I was talking about! Not about you or your mom, pfft, I mean, w-why would I?” She released a faked laugh at that.

“Oh, is there one?” Marinette paled at that. “Can we go, Marinette, pleeeeeease?”

“Ehhh…” Marinette looked at her mother for help, but she was nowhere to be found. _‘Traitor’_. “We should ask your mother first, maybe she wants you to wait here instead.”

“Hmph!” Manon pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

 _God, please, help me._ “Why don’t you show me what you and your friend are drawing?” Marinette forced a smile, praying that Manon would forget about going to the park.

Manon smiled widely at that. “Yeah, let me show you!” She grabbed one of the papers of the table and showed proudly to Marinette. “I drew Ladybug and Chat Noir! They are fighting against Hawkmoth and they are winning!”

The picture was a cartoonish version of Ladybug and Chat Noir battling a man with monarch butterfly wings and butterfly mask with a lot of butterflies around him over the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug was punching him on the face while Chat Noir was cheering at her. Marinette covered her mouth with her hand trying to not burst out laughing.

“That’s a wonderful drawing Manon.” She told herself to take a picture of it and show it later to Tikki. Maybe she could show it to Chat Noir too. “And what about you, Maya?”

Maya looked at her surprised for a moment, but then relaxed when she saw Marinette’s smile. “I’m drawing my friend.” The little girl replied softly, her voice lower than Manon’s.  “Her name is Twinkle Twister.” Shyly, she showed Marinette her draw. “She is a dragon.”

At first sight Marinette noticed that, although simpler, Maya’s style was more stylized than Manon’s. The drawing consisted of a cute turquoise bipedal dragon. Its head was tiny as well as its ears, with big round toonish eyes, a big snout and purple hair that went down over its long neck, some of it was also at the end of its tail. Darker stripes could be seen around the dragon’s neck, which went until the end of its also long tail. Its claws were black and sharp in both hands and feet. Purple wings, too tiny to make it fly, came out the dragon’s back, completing the look.

“This is very impressive, Maya.” Marinette honestly told the little girl, whose eyes widened at the compliment. “She is really cute. But,” she pointed with her finger at something at the feet of the dragon, “are those…tomatoes?”

 “Yes, they are!” Maya seemed happy that Marinette noticed that tiny detail. “She doesn’t like meat. And I don’t like tomatoes, so when mommy makes lunch with them and I don’t to eat them, she can eat them instead!”

Marinette was fighting to the urge to hug this little girl. “That’s pretty clever! I wish I have a friend that helped me when I don’t want to eat mangos.” When she told Alya about it, she looked at her like she had grown another head. _‘There’s no one on the planet that doesn’t like mangos!’ ‘Well, my name is No one, then.’_

“Do you want to know more about her?” Maya asked. “Usually nobody wants to hear me talking about her.”

 “That’s because she is not real.”

Three heads turned to see the source of the mean sentence. Marinette frowned at him. Apparently, Bruno had finished to playing with his phone.

“Shut up, Bruno.” Maya growled at her brother.

“You know I’m right, sis.” He bragged.

“No, you are not! She is real, she protects me!” Maya blurted. “You just don’t believe in her, that’s why you can’t see her!” Marinette could see tears on the corner of her eyes. This wasn’t good.

“Hey, you two need to calm dow-“

“If you want me to believe at least make her act like a real dragon.” Snatching the drawing out of his sister hands, not caring about her cries, he took a red crayon and began to paint over it. “She is a beast, she needs to eat meat and blood.”

“No! Stop! Give it back!” Maya tried to recover the drawing that her brother was holding up, out of her reach.

“I’m just going to make her ‘real’, Maya, don’t be such a crybaby.”

Marinette had enough of it.

“Hey, give your sister her draw back. Now.” The dangerous tone on Marinette’s voice distracted the boy for a second, which allowed to Maya to grab the paper. In reaction, Bruno pulled the sheet once more towards himself.

_Riiiiiiiiiiip._

Everything seemed to stop when they realized what had just happened. Bruno watched with wide eyes and lips parted at what he had caused.

In her hands, Maya held the two parts of the broken paper.

“Maya,” Bruno approached the girl slowly, “Maya, I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t me-“

 When her brother touched her shoulder, it made Maya finally react to the situation. Tears running over her cheeks, she pushed him with all her force and ran away the bakery with a speed no one was prepared for.

“Maya!”

“Maya!”

“Maya, no, came back!”

“What is going on?” Sabine came back from the back of the bakery, with a worried look on her face. “Where is Maya?”

“Mom, she…” Marinette began saying.

“It was my fault!” Bruno cried. “I didn’t mean to! You need to stop her, she has problems with directions and gets lost easily. She never goes alone! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…”

The door opened again, revealing a mad Ms. Chamack.

“What happened? Was that Maya? Bruno, what did you do this time?!”

The boy shrank himself into his seat, not being able to look at the woman into her eyes.

Marinette realized that they didn’t have time. She needed to find Maya before Hawkmoth did it. Or worse.

Seeing that her mother was doing her best to calm everyone, she sneaked out of the place as fast as she could.

“Where have could she gone?” Marinette murmured to herself.

“Marinette, she probably went to the park!” Tikki, who had been hiding inside her purse all this time, decided it was time for her to help too. “You said it was going to be a show with a dragon in it, maybe she is going there to distract herself.”

“You are right, Tikki. Even if I invented that show, she probably thinks is going to be one. C’mon, we need to hurry.”

But before they could reach the park, a loud roar stopped them along with the screaming of people. The ground beneath Marinette’s feet began to shake.

“Oh, no, Tikki, we are late!”

Just after she finished those words, a dragon as big as the Hotel Bourgeois, the same as the one in Maya’s drawing, made her way towards the scared people. Some police officers tried to stop her, but the dragon just looked at them, annoyed and opening her mouth, she released a white fire that covered them completely.

Marinette watched without moving at how one of the officials stayed the same, without any injury, but the others were completely transformed into characters that looked from a kid’s movie: a pink hippopotamus in a tuxedo, a tiny cat with feathered wings and goat-like- eyes and what looked to be a genie.

“Wow! Where are we?”

“It has been so long!”

“Man, Roger has not thought about me for years! It’s good to be back!”

The dragon looked pleased at this and then continue walking.

“That was…weird.” Tikki said.

“Yeah. They… they all look like imaginary friends, though.”

“Wasn’t that dragon Maya’s imaginary friend?” Tikki noticed.

“Yes. Yes, she was. She got sad when her brother started saying she wasn’t real. I think she is transforming everyone into their imaginary friends to prove her point.”

“And what about him?” Tikki was talking about the officer that wasn’t transformed.

“Uhm.” Marinette tried to come up with a good answer. “He probably didn’t have any when he was a kid. So if you didn’t have one, her fire would not be affect you.” Marinette concluded. “She doesn’t seem a big threat.”

“Didn’t you have any imaginary friends, Marinette?”

“I…” Marinette was going to say ‘No’ when an old memory suddenly came to her mind. A memory of her younger and _very imaginative_ 5 year’s old self. “We need to stop her!”

Tikki giggled. “I thought so.”

“You, hush.” Marinette could feel the blush covering her cheeks. “Tikki, transform me!”

* * *

 

Adrien couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

When he reached the _Place du Chatelet_ (after sneaking away from Gorilla), so far he had stumbled into such a diverse kind of characters it was like they were part of some kind of child dream, some cuter than others and some very scary: he saw a troll with a satin dress dancing around the streets when he left his mansion, a lot of gargoyles speaking with multicolor dragons (the latter much smaller than the one he saw from his room) and he could swear he spotted a vampire trying to cower from the sun under the trees.  He almost stepped on a toy-like-soldier that was no bigger than the size of a mouse, and discovered that these “creatures” had an incredible strength when said soldier grabbed him by his ankle and shoved him off like he was the toy!

He didn’t get what the akuma powers were but he was sure he and Ladybug needed to stop it.

Speaking of which…

“You know you can’t stop the akuma if you stay in one place doing nothing, don’t you?” Plagg said coming out the pocket of his shirt.

“Plagg! Stay hidden, someone could see you!” Adrien tried to grab the kwami, forgetting for a moment he was still melting, which only caused him to get his hand covered with the black substance. “Ugh, gross!”

Plagg glared at him offended. “Kid, we have seen some weird stuff back there, do you think anyone will suspect if I’m here? It’s too hot in there, I think I’m melting faster every time you close that thing.”

“Ok, sorry, you have a point.” Adrien conceded that to the kwami. “Still, we don’t know what I’m going to do, we need to help Ladybug when she gets here! You have seen that thing, it was huge! And I can’t transform since you are still…well…” looking up and down, he remarked his sentence with his hand, “…like this.”

“You just pointed to all of me.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes. “Did you just quoted the dragons’ movie you said you didn’t want to watch with me because _‘that’s not what real dragons looked like, Adrien, I had been there, don’t waste my time with your children’s movies’_?”

“Uhm…”

Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose trying to stay calm. “We are getting off topic here.”

“You started it.”

“Plagg!”

“Besides,” Plagg continued ignoring Adrien’s excitement, “I never said you can’t transform.”

Adrien blinked, forgetting what he was going to say.

“Wait…really?”

“Hey, isn’t that that blonde friends of yours that screams too much and her little minion?”

“Huh?”

Adrien turned his head to see what Plagg was referring to: Chloé and Sabrina were very close to the Bourgeois’ Hotel: Sabrina was carrying a lot of books as well as her and Chloé’s bags (they must had stayed in the library after school, Sabrina picking up the books they were going to use to study) while Chloé was talking on her phone. They probably didn’t notice what was going around them.

Just when Chloé was going to grab the door, the head of Twinkle Twister appeared from the side of the building, overshadowing the two girls. A creepy smile formed in the dragon’s cartoon face at the sight of them.

“Peekaboo!” 

“Chloé! Sabrina! Look out!” Adrien yelled as he ran desperately towards the girls.

It was too late. Adrien watched in horror how white flames erupted from the dragon’s mouth and covered his friends completely, the last thing he could see was them dropping all their things and screaming at the top of their lungs.

 “No!” Anger started to boil inside him watching at the flames move. “You will pay for that! Plagg! Transfo-“

But Plagg zipped inside his shirt and before Adrien could ask what happened he found himself flying off the scene with strong arms around his waist.

“No, wait! I need to help them!” Adrien was not transformed, but he was still going to fight. When they landed on a next rooftop, he promptly tried to get away from his ‘savior’. “I said let me go! I was going to help them y- oh!” Adrien shut his mouth up so fast he felt the bones of his jaw vibrate and then he blushed furiously the moment he realized who saved him.

With one hand on her hip and the other retracting her yo-yo, a not so happy Ladybug was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.    

“I saw what you were going to do, but I think we don’t need more victims because someone wanted to play the hero’s role, don’t you think?” The scold made Adrien’s stomach jump in embarrassment and excitement since he was sure he was not going to see his Lady until Plagg’s problem was solved. Hearing her, even if angry at his behavior, was enough to make his inside warm.

Ladybug seemed to realize something because suddenly her eyes widened and she turned her head, avoiding his eyes.

“I… I m-mean!” _‘Was Ladybug stuttering?_ ’ “It was v-very brave for you to try to help your f-friends!” Taking a deep breathe, Ladybug continued. “Bu-but you don’t need to worry! The fire is mostly harmless.” She walked near the edge of the roof and then pointed to something below. “See! They are totally fine!”

Adrien walked next to her to see what was happening down the street.

Just as Ladybug said, Sabrina and Chloé were sitting on the floor surrounded by the remains of the flames without any visible injuries.

 “The akuma’s power is to convert anyone whose flame touched in the imaginary friend they used to have.” Ladybug explained. “If you didn’t have any, then you stay the same, unaffected. The people who are transformed can be controlled by Twinkle Twister if she wants to, like a Queen bee.” She chuckled at some inside joke. “Looks like these two never had an imaginary friend. I kind of expected that from Chloé.”

“No.” Adrien whispered to himself. “She did have one.”

Ladybug seemed to hear him because she looked at him with curiosity, but Adrien kept watching at his old friend, waiting for what was going to happen.

In that moment Chloé’s form changed, her whole self-taking the cartoonish style the other “imaginary friends” had: instead of Chloé, a toon version of herself was in her place.

 Sabrina watched with fear at the Toon-Chloé at her side, not sure of what to do.

“C-Chloé? A-are you okay?” she asked shyly, touching the caricature’s shoulder with her hand.

“Oh!” the new Chloé exclaimed, with a voice very similar to the old one, but there was something that seemed off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you! You must be Chloé’s friend. Here let me help you.” She stood up and putting an arm under Sabrina’s shoulders, she helped her to do the same.

“W-w-hat? A-aren’t you C-chloé?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Uff, where are my manners?” She extended a hand to the afraid redhead, who took it hesitatingly. “Hi, I’m Amber, Chloé’s sister.”

If Sabrina looked perplexed, Ladybug wasn’t in a better state. She couldn’t understand what was happening in front of her eyes.

Adrien, for his part, felt the desire to explain everything to Ladybug. To make her understand.

“When I was young, my father used to travel a lot because of his job and he was rarely in the mansion.” Adrien paused for a moment, but when Ladybug remained silent, he continued. “He tried to be there for me, setting up video-chats when he could and sending letters, but it wasn’t the same. And when he was in the mansion, most of the time he was in his office.” Buried memories flashed briefly through his mind. “But I had my mother with me: she invented games for us, we watched movies together and she was even able to convince father to let us in when he was working in his office and see what he was working on. Chloé, well, she didn’t. That’s why ‘Amber’ appeared”

 Ladybug stiffened at that.

Adrien let out a big sigh. “I know sometimes Chloé is a bit…insufferable. But she can change, you know. I know she wants to, or at least, I hope so.”

He felt Ladybug’s hand on his shoulder and he had to resist the urge to grab it with his own.

“You didn’t have to tell me.” She said and before Adrien could reply, she continued, “but I can see you meant well. Thank you. She is lucky to have you as a friend.”

He blushed again at the compliment. _‘C’mon, Adrien, keep it together, you don’t have a mask to hide it!’_ “I…ergh… it was n-nothing, really. She is lucky to have you as her hero. Not that you are her bodyguard or something!” _‘What are you still talking, shut up!’_ “I-it’s j-just that you are s-so amazing at doing your j-job and you are really busy… n-not that you don’t care about other citizens! I-I mean…I…w-well…you and… oki’mgoingtoshutup.” ‘ _Well done, Agreste, keep embarrassing yourself,’_ were his thoughts while he covered his face with both hands.

Ladybug’s laugh made him look back at her, the beautiful sound reaching his ears and making his knees tremble. The whole moment reminded him of their patrols and he wished that someday he could be able to make her laugh like that as Chat Noir.

A roar in the distance, however, interrupted the atmosphere around them.

Ladybug immediately settled herself into action, unwinding her yo-yo and prepared herself to jump.

“Stay here, handsome, I don’t want your pretty face to be turned into a black cat or something like that.” Adrien coughed awkwardly at that. _‘You have no idea.’_ “Do you need help getting off here?”

“No, it’s ok.” Adrien replied with a squeak. He coughed again trying to fix his voice. “It’s ok, I’m fine.” He spoke again making his voice deeper.

Ladybug laughed once more and then, with her usual grace, she jumped off of the roof.

Adrien allowed himself to let out another sigh.

“Well that was something.” Plagg let himself out of Adrien’s pocket.

“Yeah…” was the only answer Adrien could provide.

“Are you really going to stay here with that dumbstruck look on your face or are we going to help?”

That seemed to snap Adrien out of his thoughts. “Oh, right!” He was going to say his transformation phrase but then he stopped mid-sentence. “Wait? Are you sure nothing is going to happen? That the ring is going to be ok? That we are going to be ok?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure if nothing is going to happen.” Adrien groaned at this. “But you told me that I ended up like this after you detransformed, right? That everything was the same when you were transformed?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So maybe you just need to transform back and then everything will return back to normal,” the kwami suggested. “Like that computer of yours.”

Adrien considered Plagg’s idea for a moment. “Yeah, maybe that could work.”

“It will work. My ideas are always good ideas.”

Adrien scoffed at that. “Two words: glue stick.”

“It looked like cheese, ok?!” Plagg whined. Adrien cackled at his displeasure. “Just, say the words.”

The boy chuckled at the flying god and gladly let the magic do his work.

“Plagg, Claws out!”

But then Adrien knew that something was wrong. He could feel the magic running up his body without hurting him, but it wasn’t like a usual transformation. Instead, he felt like a heavy mass was crawling over his limbs, trying to cover him completely. Once it finished, the black energy tightened itself around him, like it was trying to get into his skin and bones too. His teeth were hurting: it was so painful, Adrien thought someone was pulling them out. When a sharp headache suddenly hit him, he grabbed his head with both hands trying to find some comfort.

_‘Please, not like the last time.’_

Fortunately, the pain didn’t last more than the time of a normal transformation and he knew it was over when he felt the magic stop moving.

 _“‘Nothing will happen, he said. My ideas are always great, he said. Just transform and everything will be back to normal, he said.’ This is the last time I follow any of Plagg’s advice.”_ Adrien growled to himself.

He had to admit, though, that he did feel the same, if not with even more energy and desire to move. When he was transformed, he usually had a burst of energy that made him feel like he could run around Paris and never get tired.

Now he felt like he could run around France and still keep moving.

 _‘Focus, Agreste. You have a job to do.’_ But first he needed to see if he looked any different.  He was sure something had changed but he needed to see it for himself.

He jumped off the roof easily without the help of his baton and searched for a window or something. The anxiety inside him grew with every look of fear the toon-creatures he stumbled by directed at him.

_‘This is not good if they are scared of me. They think I’m a threat.’_

Finally he found a window big enough to let him see his reflection and approached it. But he didn’t need to get close to it to realize why everyone ran away from him.

From neck to toes, he was the same, but he was no longer wearing the usual bright material the suit was made of. It looked more like a second skin. But what really shocked him was his face: the mask that usually hid his features was gone and instead the same black thing that had replaced his suit covered every single patch of his own skin. His mouth was also gone and instead, big sharp green teeth like Plagg had were in its place, almost reaching the corners of his eyes (his pupils were still there, but more cat like than before), forming a terrifying smile.

It was like Venom had decided to mix his DNA with a cat.

“This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!” he babbled desperately. “No, no, no, no, Plagg, what have we done?!”

What was he going to do? He wanted to call for help, to desperately understand what was happening to him, but he knew nobody would come. Heck, he didn’t even want to look at his reflection again.

How was he going to go back home?

His thoughts were interrupted when a battle cry pierced his –now more sensitive- ears.   

A few meters away from him, he could distinguish Ladybug being chased by a very angry flying Twinkle Twister.

_‘Huh, I guess she could fly.’_

“Maya, stop!” Ladybug tried to reason with the akuma. “I know you are angry, but this is not you!”

_‘So Ladybug knows the victim.’_

“Maya is not here, I’m Twinkle Twister and I’m here to prove that she was right!” The dragon roared.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Ladybug jumped avoiding the claws of the akuma.

“Then stop fighting and let my flames warm you!” And with that she let out a new wave of her white fire.

“No!”

Adrien acted on instinct. Forgetting his new appearance, he launched himself towards his partner using the strength of his legs. The force he used to launch himself was enough to put his body between Ladybug’s and the fire, which meant that he would receive the whole attack. He didn’t mind. As much as he wanted to know about Ladybug and if she had or not an imaginary friend, he wasn’t going to risk themselves because of his curiosity. It was enough that he ruined his transformation already.

He kept his arms around Ladybug’s form until he heard the akuma fly away from them. But he didn’t let go. He was scared of how Ladybug was going to react to his new look. He knew he hadn’t have an imaginary friend so the magic shouldn’t have affect him. Would she shove him away? Would she reject him? Would she want to find a new partner?

“Hum, Chat? I don’t know how you got here,” Ladybug began saying, “and although I’m mad at you because you risked your life again, even if the akuma is not exactly dangerous, I’m very grateful for that. You can let me go.”

He shook his head against the crook oh her neck.

“Chat…”

“Nooooo….” He whined.

“Chat, listen. I’m okay, see? The fire is not harmful. It’d only affect you if you’ve had an imaginary friend.” Ladybug calmly explained to him, but he didn’t react. Seeing that he still wasn’t moving, she tried again. “I won’t laugh or say anything if you had been transformed, ok? I’ve seen a lot of weird creatures already.” Chat stiffened at that, tightening more his arms around her. She sighed. “Chat, you know we need to stop her. I promise I won’t say a thing. C’mon,” reluctantly, he finally let her go, “that’s it, let me have a look at you.”

Eyes closed, Chat waited for her to finish her inspection (what would have he given for her to do the same on some other occasion!), ready to be lectured or get his ass kicked. Screams would be involved, he was sure of that.

Seconds passed without any word coming from Ladybug and Chat got impatient.

“My Lady, please, say something.”

“Well”, she finally said, clicking her tongue, “that’s…unexpected.”

“Ladybug, I can explain!” Chat sputtered, opening his eyes to see her expression. “Well, no, I’m not even sure what is happening, but I swear I will fix it once I talk with my kwami, after I killed him of cour-“

“Wow! Chat, calm down, is fine!” Ladybug held him by his wrists. “Don’t worry, I understand, not everyone had an imaginary friend. I’m just surprised that you, of all the people, didn’t have any.”

“What?” Chat panted. “What are you talking about? Aren’t you scared of me or-?

“Help! Somebody!” the voice of a young male that came from the park, cut off what Chat was going to say.

“No one will help you until you admit Maya was right!”

“Oh, no, Bruno! C’mon, Chat, we need to defeat her before this place turns into Toontown!” And with that, Ladybug flew off in the directions of the screams, leaving a confused Chat Noir behind.

“Wh- bu- what?” He couldn’t understand how Ladybug was talking things that well, like he was still being his normal self.

Unless…

He walked towards the car that was closest to him and his suspicious were confirmed when he looked at his reflection on one of the windows: his face was normal again, the cat like mask covering his eyes and nose and his teeth were back at their usual seize.

But why?

 _‘“If you didn’t have any imaginary friends, then you stay the same.”’_ Chat remembered what Ladybug said about Twinkle Twister. _‘I didn’t, so the magic indeed made me keep my features, but the original ones, not the ones altered by my powers. That’s good, which means I have time, but how much?’_

He got his answer while examining his hands and noticing how over his fingertips, the magic provided by the akuma’s power seemed to be disintegrating, like it was an exoskeleton, revealing his still mutated form under it.

_‘Apparently not that much.’_

He needed to make a decision. He could pretend that nothing happened and then disappear before Ladybug noticed, but he knew that he couldn’t keep the charade for more than a couple of minutes and that she would know sooner or later.

He wished it would be later.

* * *

 

When Chat got to the park, Ladybug was jumping and running around the dragon, who was in a crouched position, blocking the flames with her yo-yo while trying to get closer to the beast. Chat could see under the dragon a frightened boy not over 13 years old, probably the reason why Ladybug was trying so hard to get next to the akuma.

“Chat, there you are!” Ladybug shouted. “Quick! Distract her why I try to save her brother. He is under her and the akumatized object is in one of her hands, but I can’t get close enough because her fire could touch me. I know you can’t be affected by it!”

_‘Keep the act, Agreste. Not let her suspect anything.’_

“Aw, Bugaboo, if you wanted me to be your knight, you could have asked. But where is your tower?”

“Chat!”

“Alright, alright.” Grabbing his baton (that he still retained in his mutated form, thank, God), he threw it directly at the dragon’s snout the moment she was going to spit another wave of fire.

“Hey, take it easy, Wheezie! You don’t want to burn out the whole park.”

 The akuma, who was ready to fire at him, paused her attack and looked at him in confusion, like she didn’t get the joke. Even Ladybug stopped and frowned at him.

“Uh…and that’s from…?”

“Seriously? Neither of you know?” Three heads shook in unison. “ _’I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart’_?” Another shake of heads. “Oh, c’mon! _‘Dragon Tales’_! That’s a classic!” Chat Noir yelled in disbelief.

“I think you need to update your jokes, _minou_.” Ladybug replied.

“My jokes are fine, my public is the problem.” He pouted.

“Maybe you need to check whom you direct your- Watch out!” The dragon, bored at the lack of attention, tried to hit them with them with her tail.

Chat groaned. “That’s not fair, this is the perfect graphic pun and none of you get it!”

“You can tell me later about your kids show after we defeat her!” She avoided another fire attack with a somersault.

“Is that a date?” he asked with a suggestive tone.

“Ha! In your dreams, kitty.”

“Uhm, I’d prefer using my imagination, if that’s the case.” He said with a smirk.

“Hey! Stop flirting in front of us, we are children!” the boy snarled.

Ladybug huffed in exasperation. “Ok, time to stop this non-sense. Lucky Charm!”

Chat watched the magic object fall into the superheroine’s hands and he went towards her to get a better look. Before he could even ask what random thing she got this time, Ladybug threw it at him. He caught it instinctively.

“I’m sorry for this, Chat.” Ladybug gave him an apologetic smile. “Overgrown lizard! Here!” she pointed at the object in his hands. “It’s time for your dinner!”

 _‘Dinner?’_ Adrien lowered his gaze to see what he was carrying between his hands.

It was the biggest –and spotted- tomato he had ever seen.

The earth shook above them and when he raised his head up, he felt his eyes widen at the sight of a very big and excited dragon running in his direction.

“Chat, run!”

He didn’t stop to argue.

He ran across the park as far as he could from where the boy was with the tomato in his hands, dodging the jaws and teeth of the akuma who wanted to eat him. For a few moments, when he turned back his head to see if the akuma was still following him, he could see Hawkmoth’s butterfly shaped thing around Twinkle Twister’s face. He also sensed how his time as “Chat” was running out, the magic already gone in his legs and arms.

_‘I hope Ladybug has a plan.’_

“Chat!” Ladybug shouted from over a rooftop when he was in his fourth lap around the park. “Over here! Throw it back!”

Chat nodded and with turning his arm and back, he threw the fruit with all his force. The akuma took flight when she saw her precious food fly away from her.

“Use you Cataclysm and make a hole in the ground as big as her mouth!” Ladybug ordered.

Chat understood what she was trying to do.

“Gotcha, my Lady!”  He replied. With a slight tremor in his voice, he called his destructive power. “Cataclysm!”

He knew he was playing with fire (ha!) using his Cataclysm without knowing the exact effect his new form had on it. But there wasn’t more time to think about its consequences. He had already made his decision.

When his hand touched the field, he already noticed the change on his powers, because instead of dissolving, the ground exploded beneath his palm. Chat gulped at this: even if effective, his powers were more destructive.

“What was that?!” he heard Ladybug ask.

“Nothing, My Lady!” he reassured her.  “The pit is ready whenever you are!”

“Good job, Chat!” Ladybug jumped over the dragon when she tried to snatch out the food from her hands, and running above the akuma’s spine she prepared her shot.

“Fire in the hole!”

It went exactly as Ladybug planned: the tomato felt directly into the hole made by Chat, the akuma following it without looking where she was going. This caused to her snout to get stuck and her fire, useless. Ladybug was finally able to get close the dragon and found the object inside her clawed hand.

When Ladybug broke it and the corrupted butterfly emerged from it, Chat decided he couldn’t stay any longer. He wasn’t ready for Ladybug to know about his transformation. He wasn’t ready to see the fear in her eyes.

Quickly, he sneaked out behind her and, recovering his baton, he launched himself towards the roofs of Paris until he felt he was far enough. He inhaled deeply and began to think what he was going to do now. He could try to go home and detrasform, but he was too afraid of rlviving the same pain of the night before. Seeing what his Cataclysm did to a bunch of dirt, he was not going to test what detransforming could do to him this time.

 _‘At least,’_ he thought, _‘neither father nor Nathalie are going to be there when I come back. I’m alone this time.’_

If only Plagg was there with him…

“Hey!” Chat froze when he recognized the voice next to him. “Why did you run away? You didn’t even say goodbye, I had to follow the Ladybugs from the Miraculous Cure until here to see if you were all rig-”

He heard her gasp.

He heard the way her heart sped up the moment he saw him.

He smelled her _fear_.

He couldn’t look at her.

Not like this. He couldn’t.

He ran.

He ran until he reached the window of his bedroom, ignoring the way she called for him, ignoring how she said his name.

He dropped onto his bed and curled up into a ball, ignoring the way his mind screamed at him to go back to her. It wasn’t fair for Ladybug to carry for his mistakes, even if he wasn’t entirely his fault. It wasn’t fair for her to be grounded because of his impulsiveness.

He was going to fix this.

He needed to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I'm from Peru and this is my way to promote my country haha. Also I dont like mangos :P
> 
> Amber's idea comes from this, when spoilers got released early this year: https://twitter.com/kdfoxx/status/780222944555524096
> 
> Also a design of the akuma here: https://twitter.com/Rchavakiah8/status/830938545544101890 and a mention to @eloctromagnetic (http://eloctromagnetic.tumblr.com/) for helping me with her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for taking so long to update. My classes have started and it's kind of difficult to focus on writing. And this chapter ended up being way longer than i expected. It still was fun to write tho, I hope you all enjoy this!
> 
> Also a little warning: I wrote a little detailed description of food being eaten so if you are uncomfortable with it, you can skip it, it was mostly for laughs than anything.
> 
> Thanks again to @lunalocura (http://lunalocura.tumblr.com/) for being an amazing beta!

When Ladybug dropped her transformation inside her room, it felt like as if another weight had been added to her shoulders. Eyes closed and fist clenched, she could feel the worried looks Tikki sent her, waiting patiently for her to speak, which didn’t help to diminish the bitter sensation in the pit of her stomach.  

Too many questions were forming inside her head, bubbling, boiling, twisting her thoughts and making her imagination run wild, with so many different scenarios and so many ‘hows’ and ‘whys’.

Questions that didn’t stop when she comforted Maya after cleaning the akuma and made her brother apologize to her, who hugged the little girl with tears in his eyes, promise after promise leaving the mouth of the teenage boy.

Questions that continued forming when she, as Marinette, forced a smile to the kids and the clearly angry-and apologetic- Ms. Chamack when they said goodbye to her and her mother, who noticed Marinette’s strange behavior and asked if everything was alright.

Questions that only increased when she left her house once again as her alter ego and searched and searched, cold air hitting her face, the smell of winter starting to cover the streets of Paris, the sound of people going on with their lives like they had learned to do after the first akuma attacks.

Questions that came along with a pair of green eyes that belonged to the person she was looking for.

A pair of green eyes that were sad, confused and scared.

A pair of green eyes that were hurting.

And it was all her fault.

“It’s not your fault, Marinette.” Tikki reassured to her holder. Apparently she had said it out loud. “You couldn’t have noticed tha-“

“But I should have, Tikki.” Marinette hissed with a hoarse voice. 

“He didn’t tell you anything. You couldn’t had known.” The kwami said calmly.

“He tried.” Marinette then remembered his hesitation to break the hug, the fear in his voice that she confused with embarrassment. “He tried and I misinterpreted his intentions. I should had paid more attention. But I was so focused in the akuma…”

“You were just doing your job.” Tikki tried again to convince the designer.

“…and so excited for saving Adrien and all the things he said to me,” Marinette continued, not hearing what her kwami said or pretending to not to, “that I failed to notice what Chat was trying to tell me. That he needed my help.”

_‘How many times have I done the same? How many times I dismissed Chat’s behavior believing it was something “Chat-like”?’_

“Adrien is your friend and he was in danger. It’s perfectly normal that you wanted to help him first. You did the right thing, Marinette.”

 Marinette stayed silent for a moment. Walking towards her desk, she extended her hand and grabbed a photo that she kept in one side of her computer’s screen: a cute selfie of her- Ladybug- and Chat Noir that he had managed to take with his baton the day of their “Six Month Meeting Anniversary”: a warm afternoon running around rooftops and challenging each other until, exhausted and giggling, they decided to take a rest on the _Jardin des Tuileries_. The light was so pretty that day and the atmosphere so calm that she couldn’t stop herself and suggested he to take a picture. And of course, her overexcited kitty took the chance and asked her for one with her instead.

 “I’m happy that Adrien is ok, Tikki. I am. But the thing is: I know that Adrien is going to be alright and where I can find him…but with Chat, I don’t.” Marinette finally said, her fingers tracing softly the contour of her partner’s face.

“Chat is my friend and my partner, Tikki. He had always noticed when I felt down and be there for me, knowing exactly what to say to make me feel good again.” She blinked quickly, trying to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes. “And instead of being a good partner and being a comfort to him, I only scared him away!” Marinette shouted, the frustration she had been feeling since Chat ran away from her like she had been Hawkmoth in person finally left her body. “A-and I just stayed there and didn’t move as if I haven’t seen things like that every day since I became a superhero! And that d-damn cat was so damn f-fast and he didn’t let me explain or ask anything! He even turned off his baton so I couldn’t track him down! Ugh! ”

With a groan, she let herself fall over her chair, face hidden behind her hands.

_‘Why did he have to be so damn stubborn?’_

The same questions kept repeating over and over in her head. She couldn’t understand why Chat didn’t want to tell her about, well, _that_ (even if it was less than 10 seconds, she saw enough of Chat’s face before he bolted). How long had he been like that? Why was he like that? Was it his ring? Was it because of Twinkle Twister’s or Shockwave’s attack? Did he really think that she wouldn’t notice? That he could have solved it by himself like with Copycat? Didn’t he realize that that only made her more worried about him? They were a team, for God’s sake, she wouldn’t have pushed him away!

And most importantly…

“Why didn’t the Miraculous Cure do its work?”

The question resonated between the walls of her room and lost itself within the murmurs coming from downstairs where her parents were probably watching TV. She felt Tikki flying slowly towards her and landing over her shoulder. Her kwami sighed.

“I’m…I’m not sure.” She confessed, her voice lacking its usual cheerful tone.

Marinette turned her head slightly. She watched with concern how the normally happy kwami showed a worried expression on her face, her antenna were down and her brows, deeply furrowed.   Marinette knew that expression, she has seen Tikki do that before, which only increased Marinette’s fears.

 “Tikki,” Marinette licked her lips, not ready for the answers she was going to get, “has…has this happened before?”

 The little god sent her a quick glance and sighed again. Marinette’s anxiety increased at this, her fingers playing with the photo still in her hands.

“Yes.”

Marinette caught her breathe.

 _‘It’s ok, don’t freak out, Marinette,’_ she told to herself. _‘At least,’_ she thought, _‘we can know the reason behind Chat’s transformation.’_

Especially if her partner wasn’t willing to talk.

Which lead to her next question.

“Ok, so that means that there’s a way to help Chat, right? We just need to do what the previous Ladybug did and problem solved! ” A shadow darkened her kwami’s eyes. “Tikki…?”

“What happened last time was very similar, yes, but it’s not the same. I can’t promise you that we will succeed, Marinette.”

“But…but you just said…”

“I know, Marinette. I know you are worried but please, you need to hear me out first.” Tikki pleaded.

Marinette nodded quietly. When Tikki noticed the expectant look of her holder, she began to explain:

 “For once, I don’t know exactly why this…kind of transformation happens. I guess it’s because Plagg’s magic is affected or the ring is damaged. When it happened my holder wasn’t…s-she was d-d…” Marinette didn’t need an explanation about it.  She could see the sadness in the little god’s eyes. She didn’t push her and waited for her to continue. “I wasn’t active at the time. I know they tried to activate me several times, because what happened to that Chat Noir was affecting other people too, but…they never could.” Marinette suspected “they” were the previous Chat Noir and his kwami. “When they found a new holder, she performed the cure and it fixed the problem.”

“I know what you are going to say,” Tikki interrupted herself before Marinette could even open her mouth, “but my guess about why it worked then…it only worked because… because the previous Chat was too weak…so our magic focused on fixing the Cat Miraculous first but for Chat Noir…it was too late for him.”

Marinette felt like she had been hit in the chest. That meant…that the only way to help Chat…was to let him…he needed to…

The photograph in her hands slid through her fingers and felt into the floor, the frozen picture of two smiling teenagers, a distant memory of what it had been a happy time.

A time they would never have again.

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. No, she wasn’t going to give up yet, they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, they were in this together.

There must be another way.

“What about that old man that cured you? He helped you, doesn’t it? Can he help Chat too and his kwami? Plagg you said?”

“He only cured me because I wasn’t able to let you transform and use your power.” Tikki explained.  “The Miraculous Cure is the most powerful way to heal somebody. While it depends on the amount of energy I have, even in my worst moment, my power is stronger than his.”

“And Chat’s kwami never told you about what happened?” Marinette asked with desperation in her voice.

Tikki shook her head. “He usually changed the subject when I tried to speak about it.”

Marinette let out a whimper and covered her head with her hands.  She was getting out of ideas and time was against them.

Wait.

_Time._

“Tikki, how much time passed before finding a new Ladybug?” Marinette suddenly asked, an idea forming in her head.

The kwami thought for a moment before giving an answer. “Almost 4 years, why?”

Marinette straightened herself up, barely containing her excitement. “Then we have time! I can do what the second Ladybug did and save Chat before he d-“She paused and reconsidered her words. “B-before something b-bad happens! I just need to convince him to let me talk to him so you can talk to his kwami and know where the damage is so we can focus the Cure to that point and fix everything! We can help him! We can do it this time, Tikki!”

Picking up the photo and unaware of the warm, but sad smile on the tiny god’s face, Marinette looked at it once more, her hopes rising the more she thought about her plan.

_‘Everything will be alright, kitty. I won’t let you go, I promise.’_

_‘I need to see your smile again.’_

* * *

 

It wasn’t the first time Adrien slept with his transformation on.

To give him credit, he didn’t do it on purpose that first time. That particular akuma wasn’t a strong one, but it was a sneaky one and Ladybug and he spent too much time trying to catch him and when they did, it was already past 11 o’clock.

Thank everything above that that day his father wasn’t home. He also discovered that Nathalie was the one who checked on him exactly at midnight.

The suit itself wasn’t uncomfortable (it had to be comfortable enough to allow him to perform those acrobatics movements during fights and patrols, and let him stay in the suit as long as he didn’t use his Cataclysm or he wanted to detransform) but it wasn’t like sleeping in the softest cotton pajamas either. But those few times he slept in his suit, detrasforming always felt like a breath of fresh air over his skin. He missed the confidence and sensation of freedom the magic gave to him, but he also missed being able to feel things again with his bare hands.

Something that, because of his current transformation, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do again.

Adrien let out a big sigh.  Hiding his face in his pillow, he tried to fall asleep again, but his mind refused to cooperate.  Flashes from the events of the previous day began to appear in his head: His conversation with his father. Plagg melting. The big cartoonish akuma dragon. His conversation with Ladybug after being rescued by her (he smiled a little at this).  Him transforming and becoming…whatever he currently was. The battle with the akuma. Him trying to hide from Ladybug and being found by her…

Ladybug’s shocked face.

He clutched his other pillow towards his body trying to find some comfort in it. He had wished that everything was only just a bad dream. That everything would be alright, that he would enjoy his free days talking with his friends, inviting them to his house, eating snacks and telling each other ridiculous stories of childhood. They would have had fun, they would have laughed and cried and laughed again.

He should have been happy these days. But here he was. Trapped. _Again._

And he couldn’t blame his father on this this time.

It wasn’t fair.

_‘CLANK!’_

Making a sound like a strangled scream, Adrien jumped out of his bed and landed on all fours, startled and completely awake.

“What th-”

Two things he noticed in that moment: one, although a little scratchy, his voice sounded completely normal (for which he was really relieved) and two, that one of his trophies was on the floor.

Turning his head up to the shelf he used to keep them, he saw that the second level shelf, where his fencing trophy was supposed to be, was empty.

“So you where the responsible of my second roughest wake up ever, huh?” Relaxing himself, he approached the shiny object that lied still and picked it up…

“How did you manage to fall down…?”

…only to see his reflection looking at him.

“Right.”

Gently, he returned the old prize to its place, pushing it a little more into the shelf to prevent more surprises, his hand lingering for a moment at the distorted image that looked back at him.

He sighed.

What was he going to do now? He couldn’t go to school in this…state. He needed an excuse to justify his absence. He could ask Nathalie, but then she would probably ask why he wasn’t attending school and he would need to invent another excuse for it.

And if his father found out…

Shaking his head, Adrien sat down on his bed and tried to think. He could use his father’s fashion show in his favor, saying that, in the end, his father made him help with it. It would make his father look bad, but he didn’t have many options to use for believable excuses. He could also message Nino to tell Ms. Bustier about it. That way his friends wouldn’t worry about him: they already knew how his father was. It pained to him to lie like that, but this way he could take care of his problem without involving other people.

 There was still the little detail of how to convince Nathalie and his father that he wasn’t going to go anywhere (that they need to know) or invite anyone to his house. But he wanted to be optimistic and hope that the problem would be solved quickly.

The how, well, he still was working on it.

“If I only knew where to start looking for…” he mumbled.

 _‘You can always ask Ladybug about it,’_ something in the back of his mind told him, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He wasn’t going to involve her into this. He had already turn off his baton to prevent being found out. He only needed to stay out of sight, or be sneaky enough to avoid being caught on camera if he wanted to get out of his house for a couple of minutes.

_‘But you can’t hide forever.’_

He sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. He should have asked Plagg for more information about the miraculous. But he always was so cryptic about the subject and, truth to be told, Adrien preferred to be transformed and enjoy the freedom the suit provided, which decreased the amount of time he had with his kwami.

What a pair the both of them made.

But if Adrien was going to be a disaster, he was glad that he could have Plagg at his side and be a disaster together.

He already missed his cheese-eating partner.

At the thought of food, his stomach made an embarrassing growl.

Adrien realized he hadn’t had the chance to eat anything since the day before. The akuma and his sudden transformation left him too tired to even think of eating and he probably fell asleep at some point during the night. How many hours he slept, he didn’t know.

He walked towards his desk and noticed that his phone was there.

 _‘Oh thank God it’s still here.’_ Adrien grabbed it and went to load its battery. _‘It was a good thing I rushed to fight the akuma and forgot about it. It would have been lost with the transformation instead.’_

He waited enough to let his phone get at least 1% of battery before turning it on to check the hour and his messages.

It was almost midday.

“Wow, it has been a long time since I slept this much…”

He decided to read his messages then. The most recent message was from Alya.

_‘Huh, that’s weird. She hasn’t text me personally in forever’_

Curiously, he opened it:

_“Hey, bro, Nino here. My phone was confiscated so I’m talking using Alya’s phone. Just to check if you are ok. If she knows I borrowed it without her cons- crap, she noticed. Bye, dude, message back!”_

Adrien allowed himself to laugh at the imaginary picture in front of him: Alya chasing his friend because of a phone. Nino would be totally screwed if something happened to it, so Adrien understood the urgency of not being discovered.

He had two missed calls and several messages from him too. One of them was a threat to Adrien’s father: _“he better let you out of that prison you call home, bro. Or else.”_ Adrien chuckled at his best friend’s antics. He knew that Nino was never serious with those comments and was just concerned. He hoped that one day Nino and his father could be on better terms though.

He also had two messages from Marinette, one asking if he was well and the other that said that if he wasn’t in the mood to do their nightly chats, she would understand. Adrien felt a sting in his heart. His and Marinette’s friendship was very recent but he already considered their interactions something very precious. She usually was very sweet and gentle but she had a very sassy and snarky side he was glad he was being able to know. So seeing her worrying about him filled his chest with warmth but also sadness because he never answered her and she was probably disappointed with him. He needed to make it up her somehow. He could message her later explaining himself.

The last message was from Nathalie, probably before she and his father boarded the plane, reminding him about the rules he needed to follow when his father was out and that if he had any questions he was to ask her. The message ended with Nathalie sending her and his father’s goodbyes.

Once he finished, he checked the hour again and noticed it was just a little past midday. His friends would probably be in lunch-break so he could send them a message telling them he was with his father in New York and to forgive him for not being able to talk sooner. But first, he needed to eat something too.

He considered his options. He obviously couldn’t go out and buy something, so his only option was to stay inside and eat what their chef had made for him. Giuseppe was a good and very patient man, never asking about Adrien’s requests for stacks of cheese Camembert during the week. He was also very capable in his job, punctuality being his signature: breakfast and lunch were done an hour before being served and then he waited until he or his father ordered for the food to be brought to the table.

Adrien imagined that Giuseppe was waiting for him, so if he wanted to eat, he needed to stay hide, grab something from his refrigerator and come back to his room without being spotted. Since maybe one or two people from their staff, apart from Giuseppe, were still in the mansion, he wouldn’t have troubles reaching the kitchen. Still, he needed to be careful.

Taking advantage of his transformation and cat-like reflexes, he quickly arrived. He double checked that no one was close and then he stepped into the kitchen.

He wasn’t prepared for the variety of smells that hit him.

Usually, when he was transformed, his senses were more sensitive than when he was in his civilian form, which helped during the fights.

But apparently, his new transformation increased that sensitivity, which caused Adrien to perceive every single smell in the room.

And everything smelled _so_ good.

Battling against his desire to pick up the whole kitchen, he decided to make himself a quick sandwich with ham and cheese. When Plagg asked once what kind of dishes with cheese existed, Adrien made him that one (which was the only one he was able to cook without causing a disaster). With resignation, the kwami admitted that the sandwich was good but nothing like his precious Camembert. The sandwich needed to be grilled and it was accompanied by a fried egg but Adrien wasn’t sure about how much time he had before someone discovered him so he decided skip those steps.

He took out a dish and quickly cut off two slices bread, trying not to focus on the way the bread crunched under the knife or the smell that came from it when he opened it. He shook his head and then approached the refrigerator to finish the sandwich.

But when he opened the doors to get the rest of the ingredients, his body betrayed him and a he let out a big yawn.

Which caused him to inhale all the smells that came from the food inside of it.

Adrien had totally forgot about that today was the day Giuseppe filled the fridge. That explained why he perceived all those smells when he entered the kitchen. But that also meant that today was the day that _everything_ was renewed.

And _everything_ included _kwami food_.

 In front of Adrien, laid the biggest wheel of Camembert.

A little line of drool began to come from the corner of his mouth.

He knew this _had_ to be Plagg’s fault. Adrien didn’t dislike Camembert _per se_ , but he was tired of its smell since he had to carry it everywhere.

But right now, it looked like the best food in the world.

And it was right there.

And no one was around.

Adrien forced himself to turn around and step away from the refrigerator, holding his breath.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps…

…And then he pounced right into the refrigerator.

He practically buried his face in the cheese. His new teeth were a little bit uncomfortable, but they allowed him to take bigger bites. He could taste the strong and salty flavor of the Camembert on his tongue, matching the also strong smell that tempted him seconds ago, the semi-creamy substance coating his mouth and claws while he devoured the food. In that moment, Adrien didn’t care about the mess he probably was making.

“ _Signorino_ Adrien, is that you? _Scusami_ for not being here, I had to answer a phone call from _mia fillia_ , but if you are ready I can serve you your fo…”

Adrien stopped abruptly and slowly raised up is head, cheese still dripping from his big green teeth. Giuseppe’s eyes were open wide as well as his mouth, not a single sound coming from it. Adrien gulped the rest of cheese the he had in his mouth while feeling a wave of panic running through his body.

“H-hey, Giuseppe…” Adrien began saying while trying to give the chef the best of his smiles.

But before Adrien could explain himself, the old man’s eyes rolled up his head and the chef collapsed over the floor.

Adrien quickly approached the chef, worried about him being hurt, but when he noticed that Giuseppe had just fainted, he let out a breath of relief. He carried the man, careful to not scratch him with his claws, putting him in a chair next to the table and positioned him in a way it looked like Giuseppe had just fallen sleep. That way, the chef would probably believe he was just dreaming.

Adrien murmured a soft ‘sorry’ before returning to his room. He went to his bathroom and washed his hands and face, trying to clean all the cheese off himself. When he looked up to the mirror, he couldn’t stop himself from flinching at the sight of his own reflection.

The same reflection that scared Giuseppe so much he had fainted because of it.

The same reflection Ladybug saw the day before.

A suffocating sensation began to form inside his chest. He couldn’t stay in his house. At least not for now. He needed fresh air and to clear his mind about what was happening. That he really couldn’t be seen because what happened with Giuseppe was going to be everyone’s reaction. Shock. Disgust. _Fear_.

Adrien leaped through his window towards the rooftops.

And then he began to run.

He knew he was being careless to going out just like that, that Ladybug would probably scold him if she knew what he was doing, but he also knew that as Chat Noir, he was really fast and civilians would only see a black blur jumping above them. He also knew those rooftops like the back of his hand, so he had some shortcuts he could use to hide.

The cold air filled his lungs and relaxed his mind, his thoughts going everywhere and nowhere while he let his muscle memory act by itself. He liked to think that maybe, if he keep running and accelerating, he would be able to leave all his problems behind.

But reality was always a force that restrained him.

Adrien perked up his ears at the sound of laughs he knew very well.

His curiosity was stronger and he slowed his movements, following with his gaze the source of the laughs. Looking down, he saw Alya, Marinette and Nino coming in his way.

As Adrien suspected, they were in lunch-break.

“Dude, I can’t believe you couldn’t solve exercise 8. That was the easiest one.”

“I’m sorry, but not everyone can’t be a genius on physics.”

“Mari, the answer was supposed to be in milliliters. You ended up with centimeters.”

“Shut up, Alya.”

 Adrien watched how the three of them laughed and teased at each other. He felt bad for Marinette for being the target of Alya and Nino, but he chuckled when she stuck her tongue out like a little child to them. How much he wished to be there with them. 

Adrien frowned, his smile replaced for a thin line. He could have been there with them, making jokes and laughing until his stomach hurt if it wasn’t for _this_.

But he couldn’t be there. He couldn’t be with his friends, he couldn’t talk to them and telling them the truth no matter how much he wanted because he would only scare them away.

They would never know how much he was suffering. They would continue with their lives and believe the lies he would tell to them, because they were easier to believe. Because pretending that everything was okay was the first thing his parents taught to him. Because pretending had been all his life.

That wasn’t fair.

He was tired of pretending.

He only wanted to have fun.

He only wanted to be a kid.

It. Wasn’t. FAIR.

**_CRASH!_ **

“Oh my God! Marinette, are you ok?!”

“Dude, that was close!”

Adrien woke up of his thoughts and rushed to the edge of the rooftop to see what had happened: a big flowerpot was utterly crashed at Marinette’s feet, some of the dirt covered her clothes and part of her face.

One more step and the pot would have fallen over her head.

Adrien watched the scene in horror, but it increased when he distinguished little black spots coming from the broken pieces covering the street.

Black spots like the ones from his Cataclysm.

_‘No. No, that couldn’t be. I must be seeing things. I wouldn’t do-‘_

But when he looked at his hands, he clearly saw the magic spots twisting over them, his destructive power spreading over the rooftop and crawling down the edge of it.

Adrien shook his head repeatedly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

When Adrien looked down again his eyes briefly made contact with Marinette’s, her eyes widening when she recognized him.

“Y-yeah, it’s ok. I’m f-fine, guys.”

He quickly turned around and jumped away, trying to get far away from everyone, his heart beating hard against his chest.

He had done it.

It was his fault.

He almost hurt someone he cared about.

He almost hurt Marinette.

He was a _monster_.

* * *

 

Marinette knew she only had one chance.

She wasn’t sure why he was out or why he was near them but she didn’t have the time to spend questioning his actions. She had a mission and she wasn’t going to let it slip out of her fingers again.

She quickly dismissed Alya and Nino, assuring them that she was fine and that she was going to go straight to her house instead of the café like they had agreed to when they left school. She probably sounded a little bit anxious, but they would assume it was because of the flowerpot incident.

A few goodbyes later, when she was sure her friends wouldn’t see her, she fled into the closest alley and promptly transformed into her spotted self.

Ladybug rushed through the rooftops in the direction she saw Chat run away. He was faster now so she was using all the force her legs could provide to give him chase. Her yo-yo was her right hand, ready to catch him if she needed to. She could have used her Lucky Charm to track him faster, but she wanted to talk to him and explain her plan and she wasn’t going to do it if she only had 5 minutes.

Her senses were at maximum, focusing on looking at any sign of Chat. If she dared to let herself be distracted for one second, she was going to lose him again. She didn’t know how he was dealing with his transformation. The way he had sprinted away the roof only increased her worries. At first she thought that he was just passing near them when the pot fell and that he had seen the whole thing. That would explain the shocked face he had when she looked over the roof and noticed him. But now that the think about it, there was another feeling behind his eyes apart of fear.

Guilt.

But that didn’t make sense. Why Chat would feel guilty? It wasn’t like he had been the one who pushed the pot towards her…

Was he?

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a black blur by the corner of her eyes.

_‘Gotcha.’_

Ladybug didn’t think it twice and with perfect aim, she threw her yo-yo towards her sneaky _chaton_.

The string wrapped around his legs the exact moment he was jumping over a chimney, making him abruptly stop midair. A ‘yelp’ came from his mouth when he face planted. Before he even had the chance to react or untangle himself, Marinette took initiative and jumped around the chimney pots, making the string of her yo-yo wrap around them too. She landed in front of Chat Noir and then she pulled the string of her weapon with all her strength, the action lifting him by his legs and making him hang upside-down, this time with a groan coming from the deep in his throat.

For a couple of seconds, none of them said anything.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the situation was, literally, a matter of life and death, Ladybug would have laughed at the ridiculousness of their position.

She wanted to cry, actually, but she needed to stick with her plan.

She took a deep breathe.

“Look, Chat. I need to t-“

“D-don’t! Please, let-t me go, you n-need to s-stay away from me!”

Okay, she was expecting something like ‘don’t look at me’ instead but she was prepared for this.

She was also glad that his voice was still the same, though.

“Chat, it’s ok. I’m not scared of you.” String still on her hand, she approached her partner. “I’m sorry if I made you think I was. But I have talked with my kwami about what happened to you and she told me that there’s a way to cure you…”

“Please, my Lady, you don’t understand…” Chat pleaded once more while trying to untie himself and half covering his face with one arm.

“…but she needs to talk to your kwami first since he knows what happened the last time this occurred.” Marinette continued. “I know this would mean that we need to detrasform in the same place but I have already thought about it and we don’t need to reveal ourselves if we stay back to back or keep our eyes closed the whole time. We could also use that spot in the Eiffel Tower we usually use as a stop from patrols…

“Ladybug, I can’t…“

“Look I don’t really know what you are going through,” she admitted, “but I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’m going to do anything to help you. It wasn’t your fault that this happened…”

“BUT IT IS MY FAULT!” Chat finally shouted, uncovering his face, rage filling his eyes.

None of them was prepared for what happened next.

From Chat’s hands, a vortex of what seemed to be bad luck escaped in Ladybug’s direction, the magic wrapping around the hand that was holding the string of the yo-yo. Ladybug’s eyes widened at this and she shook her hand trying to liberate it from the magic. But instead of feeling pain, she felt a tickling sensation in the palm of her hand. The tickles were strong enough to make her release the string, which caused Chat to fall to the ground with a ‘thud’.

“What the…” Ladybug began saying, looking curiously at her hand when the magic dissipated.

“No. NonononoNoNO. NO!” Chat sputtered in desperation. He kicked out of the yo-yo’s string and franticly leaped towards her.  “Please not her too, please, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”       

“Chat! Chat, calm down.” Ladybug tried to reassure her visibly shaken partner. “I’m okay, it didn’t do anything, it just tickled me and I was surprised, that’s all.” She extended her hand to Chat, showing him that it was completely ok. She let him grab her wrist and he gently turned it around, noting that, in fact, there wasn’t any damage.

Chat let out a sigh in relief. Ladybug felt him relax and she directed a soft smile to her partner. No matter the appearances, he was still her dorky and protective kitty.

But Chat’s smiles dropped and releasing Ladybug’s hand, he recoiled and sunk into himself once more.

She walked near him once more, trying to make him feel comfortable in her presence. She didn’t want to scare him again.

“Chat…?”

Ladybug heard him mumbling something before he spoke, but she only could get the words “trophy” and what it seemed to be like an Italian name.

“My bad luck. Something is happening to my powers and my bad luck is leaking.” He explained. “I have tried to control it but I think it reacts to my emotions and I have tried to control them too but…but, I think it’s not enough.”

Ladybug looked at him and noticed how sad his expression was.

“I mean, I expected to something like this would happen, you know. It’s obvious that not only my exterior would change. The suit is part of the magic of the miraculous, if that got affected that means that the whole magic had been affected too.

But I guess, I was hoping that I was the exception to that case. That my powers wouldn’t end up hurting the people I care about.”

She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to comfort her partner, find a way to make him feel better, to assure him that everything will be alright…but now that she knew about the leaking…she wasn’t sure anymore. Still, she needed to try.

When it seemed that Chat would not say anything else, Ladybug decided to ask about something he said before that had been bugging her (pun was totally NOT intended).

“Chat, when your bad luck attacked me…” Marinette wanted to slap herself when she realized what her words implied. _‘Sure, Marinette, that’s a good way to comfort him’_. It didn’t make her feel better how Chat winced at them. “Ok, bad choice of words.”

“It’s ok, I get it. Go on.”

“Right. When _that_ happened,” she said instead, “you said _‘not her too’_ , like the same had occurred before.” Chat hugged himself and avoided eye contact. “Who were you talking about?”

Ladybug didn’t pressure him to talk. If her suspicions were correct, this was going a painful thing for him to remember. And also, for her.

“I…I…” Chat stammered. “It was…I didn’t mean…I was j-just passing by the rooftops and I h-heard them laugh and had f-fun. I didn’t know there was a flower pot and it f-fell so close to her I…” With the back of his hand, he wiped a few tears that had escaped him. “A-and I…I only wanted to be there too. I only wished to feel less lonely. To have their happiness.” He scoffed. “But I guess I did more than wish, eh, Bug? I almost hurt my friend Marinette because I couldn’t control my own selfish feelings.”

 Marinette tensed at this. Chat considered her civilian self a friend? But they had only met a couple of times.

Unless…

Unless he knew her in his civilian form?

That would make things even more complicated than they already were.

She could think about that later. Right now, Chat needed her.

 “Chat, listen. I know you don’t believe me but I will say it again and again until you do: it wasn’t your fault.”

“Bu-“

“Stop.” Ladybug interrupted him. “You never meant to hurt anybody, didn’t you? It was just an accident. You didn’t even know there was something that could fall and harm anyone. This,” she said pointing at him and her yoyo, “is not your fault. You have a problem and we can fix it. We just need you to detransform and…”

But Chat shook his head in negation.

“My Lady, I already tried to tell you. I can’t…” 

_“I can’t detransform.”_

For the second time that day, Marinette felt a pain in her chest, Tikki’s warning hunting her thoughts.

_‘I can’t promise that we will succeed, Marinette.’_

“But why…?”

“I don’t know either. It’s too painful to try. I mean the first time it happened I fainted because of the pain so…”

_‘…for Chat Noir…it was too late for him.’_

 “There…there must be another way.” Ladybug muttered, her brain trying to come with a new idea.

Chat Noir straightened himself up and slowly walked past her, arms crossed over his chest, still refusing to look at her directly.

“I appreciate the help, My Lady, but this is my problem now. I will find a way to fix it without hurting anyone else. I promise I will contact you once I solve this. Until then,” he said with defeat in his voice, “I think it’s better if I…disappear, for a while.”

Ladybug glared at him, shocked.

“W-what are you telling me?” She asked, not wanted to believe what he had just said to her.

“It’s for the best, Ladybug.”

“No, it’s not! Chat, you can’t just go away like that!” She yelled at him “What if an akuma attack happens? I can’t fight without you!”

“Of course you can.” He objected. “I have seen the videos, you can do very well without me.”

“Doesn’t mean I like to fight alone, Chat.” She snapped.

“Hmmm…” was his only answer.

Ladybug began to lose her patience.

“Why are you acting like this? We can solve this together, Chat. We are a team! We just need time to think something about and...”

He let out a bitter laugh.

“Time? I think it would need a lot of time to fix this, Bug. How much time until I actually hurt somebody? How much time until I’m discovered by my family? My friends? The whole of Paris?”

“Chat…”

“Besides, you can’t keep your transformation up for too many hours. No matter how much I want to spend time with you, someone will notice you or that your civilian self is gone.”

Damn, he was right about that.

“And what about you?” she asked back.

He lowered his sight at the question, ears dropping flat against his head.

_‘Oh, no. Chat...’_

The whole loneliness thing made more sense now.

How much didn’t she know about her partner?

Her face must had been reflecting her thoughts because he promptly forced a smile.

“I am fine, Ladybug. Nothing I haven’t deal with before.”

_‘But you are not fine. And I won’t be sure if you will do something reckless if I don’t know where you are.’_

A moment of silent settled between the two and a soft but cold breeze dared to brush both heroes’ hair.

An airplane passed by.

Chat looked up to the sky and watched it go.

“I think we have been here for too long. You will probably have something to do.”

She woke up of her own thoughts at the sound of Chat’s voice.

_‘C’mon, Marinette, do something he is going to leave again!’_

“Uhm…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I guess…uhm…this is my cue to go.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t worry, My Lady,” he said channeling his flirty attitude, “we won’t be separated for that long. In fact, I will be back so quickly you won’t have the time to forget my _purr_ -ity face.” 

_‘Of course I won’t, you tomcat, because of what I’m going to do. I hope this is a good idea.’_

When she didn’t answer Chat back, he sighed and turning his back to her, he ready himself to jump.

Marinette realized she hadn’t replied to him and again, she wanted to face palm herself.

It was now or never.

“Chat, wait.” Ladybug called him in a hoarse voice.

She thought she was too late and he wasn’t going to listen and just leave. So she was a little surprised when he actually stopped in his tracks.

‘I guess I’m not the only who doesn’t want to go yet.’

“Chat, what if…” She licked her lips a second before continuing, “what if you stay with a friend?”

He looked at her like she had grown another head.

“Uhm, My Lady, I don’t know if you have noticed but there’s one little tiny problem about that idea.” He pointed at himself and even shook his finger to reaffirm his point.

This time, she allowed herself to roll her eyes.

“I was talking about someone who already saw you.”

She watched the way his features changed (even with his new appearance, he was as expressive as ever) from surprised to disbelief and finally to suspicious.

“I don’t know who you can be referring to, Bu-“

“What about Marinette?”

“No.” He replied, a conviction and severity she had never heard from him before.

“Bu-“

“I said no, Ladybug.”

“Why not? You two have already worked together, haven’t you?” She resonated. “You told me she was pretty calm when she tried to grab Evillustrator’s akumatized object and when you two were trapped inside the glass box. I must say she is not afraid to face a difficult situation.”

“That was different.” He hissed.

“And why would that be?” She probably sounded angrier than she should had been, but she didn’t like the implications about her he was saying to, well, her.

“Because the akuma was in love with her and wouldn’t hurt her! But I…” He looked at his hands, “…I don’t know if I won’t.”

 _‘So that was it.’_ “Chat, look, I know you don’t like this but put in my place for a second. If I was going through the same thing you are going through…”

“Which you never will.” He noted.

“...and I decided to go missing, wouldn’t you be worried? Wouldn’t you want to know where I am? Wouldn’t you want to know if I’m fine or not?”

“I’m not telling you to go to live with her.” She explained. “Just go to her house a couple of hours so she can tell me how you are and if something has changed. I would be less worried if I know someone is keeping an eye on you while I search for more information. Think about it like a visit to the doctor, but with less uncomfortable questions, less time in the waiting room reading the same magazines all over again and better food. I wouldn’t promise less needles, because she is a designer and she probably has more of them than a doctor would ever see in their life.”

Chat let out a soft laugh at this.

 _‘There. That’s my silly kitty.’_ She thought with fondness.

“I won’t pressure you any more if you don’t want to.” Ladybug said sincerely. “But…think about it, ok?  Can you promise me that?”

Chat looked at her and make a grimace with his teeth. If she had to guess, she would have said that he was biting his lip in concentration.

“Yeah, I will think about it, Bug. Promise.” He said with a smile. This time, it wasn’t a forced one.

“Good.” She said.

Another silent, this time a more comfortable one, began to settle between them…

…that was interrupted by the growl of two stomachs.

Both heroes blushed in embarrassment.

“Ah, well, I think I must…ergh…go.”

“Yeah, sure, I mean it’s lunch time so…”

“Yes, I’m so hungry I could eat two wheels of Camembert. “

“What?” Ladybug giggled at this new piece of information. Chat liked cheese?

“No! I mean…I…ugh…this is my kwami’s fault.”

Ladybug’s giggles only increased.

Picking up her yo-yo, she prepared herself to go.

“Well, see ya later, Chat Noir. Don’t forget about what you promised.”

“Bye, My Lady. And don’t worry, I won’t.”

“Have a _grate_ lunch!”

“My Lady!”

Marinette’s laughs could be heard the whole way to her house.

When she landed on her balcony, she released her transformation off and closed her eyes, waiting for the lecture that her kwami would surely do to her.

But nothing happened.

She slowly opened her eyes and found herself looking to big blue eyes that were very close to her face.

She squeaked.

“What?” Tikki tilted her head at her holder’s actions

“Tikki! Don’t do that again!” Marinette held a hand against her chest. Too many emotions for one day.

“Sorry. But you had your eyes closed and you were making a weird face. I thought you had fallen asleep and were having a nightmare.”

Sometimes Marinette got surprised at her kwami’s innocence.

“I thought you were going to call me out because of what I proposed to Chat. You know…how I’m risking my secret identity and all that jazz?”

Tikki looked at her for a moment and then sighed.

“I may not agree about risking your identity that way but that’s the way I have always believed it should go. But in the end, it’s your decision and I’m here to support you. I know you can handle yourself well, Marinette.”

She smiled at that.

She was so lucky to have such an amazing friend in Tikki.

“Thank you.” Marinette said, scratching the little god’s head with affection.

“Besides,” Tikki said, “Chat being here can still allow me to talk to his kwami, even if he can’t detransform.”

“Wait, really?” Marinette asked with hope.

Tikki nodded.

“It’s not as easy as a face to face talk, but yes I can do it. But it also depends on Chat Noir’s kwami. If he doesn’t want to or can’t talk, I won’t be able to communicate with him.”

‘But it’s better than nothing’. Marinette thought.

“So now it’s up to Chat if he accepts my proposal.” She concluded.

“Yes.”

Marinette nodded in acknowledgment.

“Well, it’s was good thing then that I decided to talk to him this early. It has given us more time to figure out what to do.”

In that moment, her stomach reminded her again what time it was.

_‘Right. Lunch break. I think my parents are out so I don’t need to transform again and enter with the front door.’_

“Tikki, I’m going to eat something. How many cookies do you want?”

The kwami wiggled at the mention of her favorite food.

“Three please!” She chirped.

Marinette giggled. “Three will be then! Now stay here and if you want to rest between my flowers, go ahead, but be careful, ok? I don’t want another accident like the last time.”

“Sure thing!”

Marinette shook her head in amusement and then went down through her trapdoor, smile still on her face.

Smile that was off her kwami’s face the moment her holder was out of sight.

_‘I hope you are right about the time, Marinette.’_

_‘Because Chat Noir is already showing the symptoms of year one.’_

* * *

 

After his encounter with Ladybug, Adrien’s day passed out in a dizzy blur.

He sent a message to Nathalie, telling her that he wasn’t going to go to school and instead he was going to stay indoors studying for his exams. Once he was finished he was going to call her again and ask her for permission to have a sleepover with his friends. He knew he was lying, but his excuse to stay in his house and not being out must be believable.

That also would make it so his food would be delivered to his room. That was a relief since he didn’t want to scare Giuseppe -or anyone- again. The Gorilla would also be free these days. Adrien knew how much that man deserved some rest for dealing with his behavior. (The same ones Nathalie deserved too. He would need to convince his father to give her some vacations.)

After talking to Nathalie and checking the Ladybog for any akuma attack, he decided to take a shower. At first he had thought it would be weird, but since the suit was attached to his skin, the feeling of the water dropping on his back was exactly what he needed.

He took several naps the rest of the afternoon, some of them didn’t contain anything. Some of them were nightmares.

He actually tried to study too. If he was going to be confined, at least he was going to do something productive, apart from sleeping.

He thought about Ladybug’s suggestion too.

Adrien wasn’t sure about what to do. He understood why his Lady chose her to check on him. Marinette was one of the few people he knew that wouldn’t freak out because of a superhero and would actually stay focused when she needed to. She wouldn’t hesitate to tell him to stop if he happened to be doing something stupid. He knew that.  He would trust Marinette anytime, in and out of the suit.

But…

He looked at his trash can, the amount of ashes that lied in there, a reminder of all the paper sheets he has ‘unconsciously’ destroyed.

…he was scared of himself.

It was already past 11pm when Adrien tossed away the book he needed to read for his Literature exam. He couldn’t just focus in the words.

_‘Ugh, what should I do now?’_

_‘Stop whining is a good option.’_ A voice suddenly spoke to him.

 Adrien jumped out of his bed and crouched into a defensive position. He let out a growl and a hiss, his head turning left and right searching for the invader.

“Who is there? Are you an akuma? Show yourself and stop hiding!”

_‘Jeez, kid, it’s, what? Ten hours? And you forgot about me already? I’m deeply offended.’_

Adrien quickly changed his stance to one of curiosity. He knew that voice, he was sure of it. But who..?

_‘Oh, c’mon! I’m in your head but I can’t sound that different! Also did you really think if I was an akuma I would actually answer your question?  And what’s about that double redundancy?  Ugh, kids these days.’_

Wait…Plagg?

Adrien felt amusement run through his body

_‘Took you long enough, kitten.’_

 “Plagg! Oh my god, I have missed you so much!” Adrien felt like he was about to cry.

_‘Don’t cry kid. And I know, I’m very memorable.’_

“What happened? Why are you talking me just now? Where are you?”

_‘Uh, I already said I was in your head –thank you very much for the attention, kiddo.’_

Adrien felt a little embarrassed at that and for some reason, something like annoyance too.

“Sorry”

 _‘Eh, don’t sweat it, it’s ok. I’m a little confused too. Also since I’m in your head you can speak without actually speaking, you know? You can just think what you need to tell me and_ voilà _.’_

Adrien tilted his head and after a moment of consideration, his first mind-conversation began with a:

_‘Hi!’_

…And the he felt Plagg facepalming.

_‘Seriously, you can tell me whatever you want to and you said ‘hi!’? Unbelievable.’_

Now it was Adrien to feel annoyed.

_‘I’m sorry, but this is my head you are into so I can think whatever I want.’_

_‘See, that’s much better. You learn fast, kid.’_

For a moment Adrien swore he felt Plagg chuckle and something like… proud… coming from him. But...?

_‘Ah, you noticed. Yeah, I think that whatever happened to us when you transformed, has fused our minds and feelings. Basically I feel what you do and you feel what I feel.’_

Ok, that was…actually pretty cool. Usually, when he was normally transformed, he could feel Plagg’s presence behind his mind, but nothing else. He knew that Plagg could also see what he saw during battle but they never had had this kind of interaction before.

_‘Yeah, it’ is awesome, isn’t it? But you still need to learn how to block your thoughts. I can read you right now like an open book. We may share feelings and mind conversations, but that doesn’t mean I need to know every single though of that teenager brain of yours. Yuck.’_

Adrien chuckled at Plagg’s antics. Oh, how much he had missed this.

_‘Yes, yes, kiss and hugs for later. Now, I heard you had a problem with a decision that Lady Luck asked of you?’_

Adrien raised a mentally eyebrow.

_‘Do you really want to know about my problems?’_

_‘Sure, it’s kinda boring here actually, so go yourself. Tell Dr. Plagg your problems.’_

Adrien sighed, physically and mentally.

_‘Yeah. She…well…I first told her it would for the best if I disappear for a while.’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Because my powers are leaking. I’m hurting people and I don’t know how to control it. So I told her it would be for the best if I disappear for a while.’_

_‘Bet she didn’t take it well, huh?’_

_‘She didn’t.’_

_‘Well, I see why. You are her partner and her friend. She is worried and actually tries to help and the first thing you said is: ‘I don’t need you, I’m a solitary hero with a sad past so I’ll do my things- wind moving my hair- alone without help.’ Cut to dramatic background music.’_

_‘That’s not what I said.’_

_‘Doesn’t matter. The intention was that.’_

_‘I…I just didn’t want to hurt anybody. If I confine myself, no one would get hurt anymore.’_

_‘Except for you.’_

  Adrien groaned and hid his face between his hands.

_‘Look kid, I get you want to do things right but running away…is not one of them. Once you are isolated from everyone what would you do next? You don’t even know what you need to look at for. Miss Spots is offering her help because maybe she has some information that will be helpful. But she also needs yours because she doesn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle. If you kept that information just for you, is not going to lead you anywhere.’_

_‘So you are telling me…’_

Adrien felt his kwami roll his eyes.

_‘That you need help.’_

He sighed.

_‘What should I do about her idea, then?’_

_“What about it?’_

_‘I mean…Ladybug suggested that since she can’t be checking on me all the time, that I should stay with a friend that can keep her up to date.’_

_‘Friend of yours or hers?’_

_‘Both, I think. I don’t know how Ladybug knows her but she is my friend from school.’_

_‘Pigtails or Glasses?’_

_‘Pigtails’_

_‘Ah, the girl from the Evillustrator incident. She seems fun.’_

_‘She is great.’_

_‘Do you trust her?’_

_‘Ladybug does.’_

_‘I’m asking you, Adrien.’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Then what’s the problem?’_

Adrien closed his eyes. He really didn’t want to talk about it.

_‘Then show me.’_

He did.

_‘Ah, I see.’_

_‘So…?’_

_‘Well, she is very calm for almost being killed by a flowerpot’_

_‘Thanks for reminding me that, Plagg.’_

_‘Hey, I’m just telling what I saw.’_

_‘Can we skip to the part you give me the advice, please?’_

_‘…Well,’ Plagg began saying after a few seconds of silence, ‘you know her better than I do. So it’s up to you to decide whether you can trust her with this or not.’_

Adrien was going to interrupt, but he felt that Plagg wanted to tell more.

_‘But, for what I have seen in your memories,’ Adrien blushed at that, ‘she seems a very good person that cares for you. Not only for you, Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste fashion designer, nor for you, Chat Noir, hero of Paris. You, Adrien. She cares about you.’_

Adrien remained silent, considering every word Plagg told him.

_‘So, what are you going to do?’_

He wasn’t sure if that question came from his own mind or from Plagg, but he really didn’t care. He had made his decision.

He approached his bed and looked under it, hoping what he needed was still there.

It was.

He grabbed the silver object that had been lying under his bed since the previous afternoon and brushed some dust out of it. He then pressed the big green pawn in the middle of it, which turned on the artifact.

“I have a call to make.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is where my ship biased self starts writing trash. Y'all really think I wasn't going to put Marichat in here? ^-^  
> For all who have seen the way I potray Marichat in my tumblr, I think you wont be dissapointed by the way I'm going to write it . Trust me, I'm aware.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I really want to apologize for taking too long to update this chapter. But uni was really stressful and i didnt have the inspiration to work on this chapter until a few days ago. It's not as long as the previous two but it's a regular one. I hope you enjoy it :D I finally wrote an interaction i wanted since the begginging 
> 
> A shout out to [LaneyCrown](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LaneyCrown) (@laney-of-the-starts on tumblr https://laney-of-the-stars.tumblr.com/) for winning a mini contest about this chapter i held on my tumblr!
> 
> Thanks again to @lunalocura (http://lunalocura.tumblr.com/) for being an amazing beta!

When the cold air of the morning hits Marinette’s face she notices that it was the first time in weeks that she is early to school.

It wasn’t normally a bad habit of her. Really, she was only late the days after a night battle with one of Hawkmoth’s akumas _(‘apparently a side effect of his miraculous is making him an insomniac. Are you sure he isn’t a vampire, Tikki?’_ ) . Add to that the responsibilities of being the president of her class, homework, keeping up her grades, working on her designs, being a good daughter and still being there for her friends, if it wasn’t for her good stamina (and the traces of magic running through her body), she would have slept for a whole year.

So usually, she was as early as a normal student could be.

Today, though, it’s different.

Her mind goes through Chat’s words. He had called her, Ladybug her, around midnight. She was in her pajamas working in some sketches when Tikki announced to her that Chat was trying to contact her. She clearly remembered (and blushed at the thought) how she shouted “Transform me!” the moment her kwami ended her sentence.  No one could had blamed her: it had been hours since she last talked to him and she had already lost hopes of him calling her back. She had already imagined all the worst possible scenarios.

She had been _maybe_ a little bit too eagerly when she answered her yo-yo.     

The conversation went too quickly for her taste —and considering how Chat normally acted, it _shouldn’t_ have been that short—: he accepted being looked over by Marinette (she had to reassure him that yes, Marinette _still_ wanted to help) but only after school and if she was free to do it. He didn’t want to keep her from going out with her friends if she wanted to. And he would only stay until 9 in the night if needed. He ended the call promising he would behave for her because he was a gentleman and _‘you are the only woman in my mind, Buginette’_ and, if anything, she would be the first to know if something happened (she had to invent an excuse of why Ladybug couldn’t be there as well when he suggested it. She went with the whole _‘two superheroes visiting a civilian would be too much. You can sneak out but I can be followed and we both know we don’t want that to happen’._ )

She let out a sigh of relief the moment they both hung up and then she tried to sleep —after apologizing to Tikki, of course—. But she couldn’t. No matter how much she tried to clear her thoughts, there was something bothering her that wasn’t letting her rest. At 4 in the morning, she stopped battling against her lack of sleep and decided to take her time to prepare for school (and check some of her homework too).

In that moment she realized the cause of her insomnia: there was another blond she haven’t heard about. Not since Twinkle-Twister’s attack.

She promptly grabbed her phone and searched through her messages: the last message was one the day before Shockwave’s attack.

She really tried to not freak out about it. Surely there wasn’t anything to worry about. Adrien didn’t need to speak her every day. That’s what friends do, right? Something probably came up to him, something about his job. There wasn’t anything she need to be worry about!

But then she remembered how awful and sick he looked that day and how even with that he tried to help his friends. Sure she saved him from out of the dragon’s claws but was he really ok? What if something happened to him on that roof? What if his sickness was actually something worse? What if his father took him to a hospital and that’s why he hadn’t communicated with anyone?

And that’s how she ended up in front of the school door —after Tikki calmed her down—, checking her phone every single minute. She couldn’t take the risk of missing any message.

“Wowowow, are my eyes deceiving me?” a masculine voice says besides her. “Maybe it’s the light of the sun that is making me see things?”

Marinette jumps, surprised at the sudden presence, but then rolls her eyes when she recognizes who is speaking

“There’s no sun since we are close to w-“

“She finally speaks!” The voice continues, which only cause Marinette to glare at him “and she is looking at me too! What a wonderful day! Ladies and gentlemen, _Petit Pain_ in person!”

At the mention of the nickname, she can’t pretend to be mad at him anymore. Instead, a laugh full of fondness and old memories surrounds the two teenagers.

“What?” he says, a toothy smile crossing his features.

She shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s just…it’s has been so long since you called me like that.”

“It has been _really_ long since we talked like this.” Kim says. Marinette tries not to flinch at the comment.

“Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s ok. We are both at fault about it. I never tried to look for you. I know that at least you did.” He bites his lip. “I should be the one apologizing.”

“You don’t have to.” She reassures him.

Brow furrowed, he shakes his head this time. “But I want to. I want to do things right. Having a maniac inside my head put some things in perspective for me, you know?”

A pang of guilt hits her again.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Marinette. You and I both know it wasn’t your fault”, Kim reiterates. “You didn’t humiliate me to our classmates and you weren’t the one who possessed me with a demonic butterfly.” He pauses. “Because you aren’t Hawkmoth, are you?”

It’s Kim’s turn to flinch, but in pain, when Marinette hits his arm with her fist.

“Ow! I’m hurt! I’m very much hurt!”

“You earned that.” She hisses, but a smile teases the corner of her lips.

“As your self-proclaimed _brother_ , I deserve some respect.” He mumbles, running his hand over his injured arm

“Beat me in arm wrestling and then we’ll see.”

Kim pouts. “Oh, c’mon, you know that’s never going to happen.”

“Precisely.”

His even bigger pout makes her burst into giggles and for the first time in days, she feels some of her stress leaving her.

“But seriously, you tried to help me that day, Marinette. Heck, you are always helping!” He exclaims. “In fact, if I didn’t know you better I would say that you are trying to beat Ladybug in which of you can help more people.”

If Marinette had been drinking something, she would have probably spit everything over Kim’s face.

“Hahaha, oh, Kim you are so funny!” She hopes for him to not notice the fakeness in her voice. “Me?! Trying to be like Ladybug? Please! I would never!”

 She tries to change the topic as quickly as she could.

“So…uhm…” Marinette stutters, “w-what are you doing here so early?”

He hums. “I’m waiting for Max. I usually run around the school before classes and he measures my time. But he is a little late today. Weird.”

_‘He is not the only one’_ , she thinks, running her thumb over the screen of her phone.

For a moment none of them says anything.  Marinette, for the sake of doing something, decides to check her messages once more. She feels Kim moving but she is too focused on looking at her mobile.

Nothing yet.

“Ahem!”

Marinette raises her head up and glances at Kim, who is sitting on the stairs, patting the spot next to him.

She cocks her head.

“C’mon! It’s pretty much obvious that something is bothering you. You can tell me.” He says, a smile still plastered over his face.

She hesitates for a second but then shrugs and sits next to her friend.

“There it is!” He exclaims, putting an arm around her shoulders and crushing her to his side. She lets out a little yelp. “Now, tell your dear brother what your problems are.”

 “First of all”, she says, pushing his arm out of her shoulders, “I need to breathe.”

The young boy scratches the back of his head. “Sorry.”

“Anyway”, Marinette sighs, “I’m just…worried.”

“About?”

“Ehm…it’s…” ‘ _Would it be okay to tell him about Chat? Maybe not.’_ ”…I have this friend…”

“Yeah…?”

“And like… we have been communicating for a while…”

“Aaaaaaaaand….?”

“And he…”

“Oh, a _boy_.” He interrupts.  “The plot thickens.”

“Shut up it’s not like that.”

“Sure, Jan.”

Marinette glares at him.

“One more interruption, and I will tell Alix the real reason why you didn’t come to the last bet.”

Kim pales.

“And, well,” she continues,” I haven’t known of him for the last few days. And the last time I saw him he looked so sick and tired…and I want to ask him if he is ok but I don’t want to pressure him, you know? It took me a while to speak to him and I don’t want to scare him away. So I’m just…yeah, worried.”

“I mean”, Kim says after a moment of thinking, “if you are worried you can send him a message instead of trying a direct approach.”

“But it has only been a few days…” she whispers.

“So?” He scoffs. ”Max has only been 10 minutes late and I already sent him 5 messages. He is your friend, isn’t he? Then he wouldn’t mind if you asked him if he is okay. If I was him I would be actually happy.”

_‘That’s what Tikki told me too.’_

In that moment Kim’s phone vibrates.

“See?” He says showing her the message he just received: it was Max apologizing for not communicating beforehand and telling him that something came up with his grandmother but that he was already close to the school.

Marinette smiles at this.

“Well that’s my cue to go.” He says, standing up. “Like my old man used to say: _‘Patience is a great virtue but a little initiative doesn’t hurt anybody.’_ ”

“Hey!” Marinette calls him when he is leaving. “Thanks for everything, _Patmol_.”

Kim blinks but then lets out a big laugh.

“Nothing your big brother can’t solve, sis.” He winks at her and then runs to wherever Max is.

“And good luck with Adrien!” Marinette hears him scream to her when he is almost out of sight.

She stiffens at that but then shakes her head and laughs softly.

Tikki’s head pops out of her purse after hearing Kim’s departure.

“He is right.” She agrees.

“Yeah, h-“, Marinette starts, but is interrupted when her phone vibrates.

She quickly unlocks her mobile and looks at the message. It’s Adrien: he apologized for not talking sooner, but he was in New York with his father, helping him with the fashion show that was being hosted there. If everything came out right, they would be returning in 4 days.

“See, I told you!” The kwami chirps, excited.

A second message comes just when she finishes reading the first one. In that one Adrien says that he missed their night chats.

 “Yeah, I know you did.” Marinette says, relieved that at least one of her problems was solved.

_‘I know you did.’_

* * *

 

“Plagg! Help me to check if everything is ok.”

_‘Kid, this is the sixth time you’ve checked yourself.’_

“It doesn’t hurt to check again!”

_‘You are not even carrying anything! Just that stupid thing on your head.’_

Adrien huffs. Today he is going to go to Marinette’s house and saying he is nervous would be understating things. The moment he ended his call with Ladybug, he started planning how their meeting would go, asking Plagg for advice and being awake all night when the kwami got tired. He didn’t want to scare her anymore, no matter how many times Ladybug assured him that Marinette wasn’t going to reject him.

“It’s not stupid. It’s for precaution.” He corrects him.

_‘Oh, I’m sorry, you are right. The thing is not stupid. You are the one being stupid right now.’_

“Wow, I can totally feel your love towards me.” Adrien says indignantly. His fists are clenched and a cold anger starts forming in his chest.

The kwami says nothing. Adrien closes his eyes trying to calm himself but it’s difficult. He then feels a low vibration in his throat and something running up and down his back, like if someone is rubbing it.

“P-plagg? Are you the one doin-?”

‘ _Shhh. Breathe first, then talk.’_

He does as instructed. He tries to focus on the fresh sensation that replaces the painful cold in his chest and the soothing movements over his back. His breathing then started to regulate and his anger to dissipate.

“How…?”

_‘Remember that I can feel what you are feeling. I am older and I know some tricks.’_

“I…” Now Adrien feels guilty for doubting about his kwami’s feelings. “Thanks.”

_‘Don’t feel sorry, lad. We both are in a situation that is uncomfortable and you are more sensitive now. Even I am more sensitive. But you can’t lose control or your powers will too.’_

The flowerpot incident comes to his mind.

_‘Kid…’_ Plagg warns.

“I know, I know.” Adrien says. “I still need to apologize to her for that too.”

_‘And, you know, for being late too.’_ The kwami comments.

“WHAT?” He checks his baton and realizes that he is 5 minutes late. He clearly hears Plagg’s cackles in his head.

Ignoring his kwami, he promptly makes sure that everything is in order, that the door in his room is secured and then he leaps out to the rooftops.

It takes him another 10 minutes to reach Marinette’s house — he avoided as much as he could all the houses with flowerpots or something that could fall or hurt anybody—. He decides to hide behind the chimney over her balcony when he notices that Marinette is not home yet. He is relieved by that actually. That gives him the time to repeat to himself the speech he practiced all the morning and to check that the paper bag over his face is still there.

_‘And here we go again with that thing.’_

_‘Plagg! I told you that the bag is-‘_

_‘For precaution and yadda, yadda yeah I heard you. But we both know that you are not doing it for that, but because of that dumb jok-‘_

“Coo!”

Both Adrien and Plagg freeze at the sound. The former turns his head up and sees a pigeon over him.

_‘Plagg, please tell me that my allergies were gone after I became this thing.’_

_‘You tell me, kid.’_

The pigeon cocks its head.

Adrien’s throat aches.

_‘Oh, no’_

The pigeon suddenly launches itself towards him and starts pecking at the bag. Adrien gasps at the sudden attack but shuts his mouth quickly when the aches increase. The animal keeps pecking merciless, no matter how many times he shoo it away. He actually manages to brush its wings with his hand a couple of times.

_‘WHAT DOES THIS BIRD WANT WITH MY BAG?!’_

_‘I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A DUMB IDEA!’_

_‘RETREAT!’_

Desperate, Adrien jumps in the direction of Marinette’s balcony looking for cover, but his bad luck follows him, making him tangled with the white tarp that cover his friend’s balcony. He lets out a yelp and rolls over the balcony, landing ungracefully over the floor…

“Hey, do you hear something?”

…in the exact moment in which Marinette opens her trapdoor.

Adrien groans, both in pain and embarrassment. This isn’t going as it supposes to be. He looks at the girl in front of him and he feels his face reddening even more when he sees her standing there, eyes widened and her mouth forming a comical “o”.

Not for the first time, Adrien wishes for his destructive powers to make a hole in the ground and let it swallow him up.

“Well…” Marinette finally speaks, “…I knew you wanted to make a dramatic entrance but I think you went over the top this time.”

Adrien wants to cry and laugh at the same time.

_‘Kid, remember…breathe.’_ Plagg’s voice makes Adrien to finally compose himself.

_‘Right, right…’_

Clearing his throat, he carefully untangles himself of the awning, straightening himself up.

“I deeply apologize for the damages caused, Princess,” he says and to emphasize it, he bows to her. “But I must say, I was furiously attacked by a rabid animal.”

She looks back to where he came from and turning to him, she raises an eyebrow. “You mean, Jacques?”

“That _thing_ has a name?!” He looks up at the chimney and glares angrily at the pigeon, who is distractedly cleaning one of his wings.

_‘I can’t believe we have been defeated by a pigeon named Jacques.’_

_‘We are never going to talk about this, kid.’_

_‘Gotcha.’_

“Ok but seriously,” Marinette’s voice interrupts his inner conversation, “is there a good explanation of why do you have a paper bag over your head?”

Adrien swallows and nervously rubs the back of his neck. “Heh, funny you ask! Uhm…erhmmm…well, you see…”

“Wait, wait, wait. Is this because of…of how you look like?” She inquires. “Because I- erh Ladybug told me already about it.”

He doesn’t answer her.

Marinette sighs. “Look, there’s nothing you need to hide, ok?” She takes a step forward, but Adrien gets nervous and takes a step back. She stops for a moment but then continues moving, decided. “I don’t know what exactly happened but I’m not going to get easily scared of a kitty version of Venom.”

“I mean it’s not exactly that but-wait-!” He begins saying but stops when he feels Marinette’s hands on his face.

Too quickly to stop her, she removes the paper bag…

“Oh my god.”

…To reveal a Chat Noir’s mask —that it was just a photo of a magazine stuck to a piece of cardboard- over his face.

The deadpanned glare she sends to him is enough to stop the laugh that was forming in his throat.

“Oh my god, Chat, seriously? A Deadpool joke?”

_‘I told you this was a dumb idea, kid.’_

“I just was trying to lighten up the mo- wait a minute how do you know it’s from Deadpool?” He asks.

She crosses her arms over her chest. “How do _you_ know about it?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

_‘Oh for the love of-‘_

“My kwami told me it was a great movie but he only showed me certain clips.”

_‘Don’t include me into this.’_

“I asked my parents for permission and they said yes.”

“Young lady, you shouldn’t be watching that kind of movies, they’re not for your age.” He scolds her playfully.

She scoffs. “And are you? You don’t look older than me, _kitten_.”

_‘STOP FLIRTING!’_

_‘Damn, she is right. I’m younger.’_

_‘You are totally ignoring me, aren’t you?’_

_‘What do you thin_ -no! Marinette, wait!”

But Marinette is faster again and the mask ends up in her hands in another fluid movement.

Adrien just closes his eyes, not wanting to see her reaction. He doesn’t want to see the same expression Ladybug had the first time she saw him.

“Chat…”

_‘Kid…’_

He lets out a soft whine and shakes his head.

“…please…”

_‘…open your eyes.’_

“…open your eyes.”

Adrien doubts at first but, slowly, he finally opens his eyes.

The first he sees in his reflection in her eyes. How the deformed features reflect into them. How the light of the dusk turns even creepier his aspect.

He feels horrified at himself.

But the eyes looking at him are not.

In fact, the next thing he notices is the smile on the girl in front of him. By the way her expression is telling him that he is not unwelcomed, that everything is going to be alright.

For the first time in days he feels _safe_.

“See,” she says, “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

He has to repress the urge to hug her.

“Thanks, Princess.” He tries to give her the best smile he can in his condition.

She blinks but then laughs softly and mumbles something to herself. He catches something like “I missed that” but he isn’t sure.

“So,” she says after a moment, “would you…like to come in… I know my room is small and maybe a bit disorganized…well, disorganized in general,  but you can stay on the chaise, you know, take a nap…”

His eyes widen, surprised. He hadn’t thought about her asking to go to inside her house, let alone to her _room_.  Where there is stuff. _Fragile stuff_.

He can feel his heart throbbing in his ears.

“…unless you prefer going back to your house because I’m totally scaring you. I’m sorry!”

“Nono…it’s just…I m-mean…” He stumbles in his words and actually feels _sweat_ forming on his hands, “I d-didn’t thought you were going to a-ask me that and I just…I need...I really n-need to think about it.”

“Right, right…”

“So, uhm…yeah I think I just…” He says, and jumps over the grills of her balcony.

“Yeah… you can…errr…” She licks her lips. “See you tomorrow?”

Adrien turns back and looks at her. He doesn’t want to hurt her and he is scared of what could happen if he can’t control his powers if he actually enters her room…

But at the same time, he finds himself not wanting to reject the girl who just welcomed him even with his condition.

“I…yeah,” he finally says. “See you tomorrow.”

He leaps off the balcony and quickly loses himself in the shadows.

When he enters his room, he lets himself fall over his bead. Putting an arm over his face, he closes his eyes and realizes that he is feeling lighter than ever.

_‘Well,’_ he hears Plagg talk again inside his head, _‘I think that went…not as planned.’_

Adrien chuckles. _‘You can say that again.’_

_‘But it ended up pretty well.’_

_‘Yeah, I think so.’_

_‘But you know, you forgot to apologize to her for the flowerpot thing.’_

‘…’

“Fuck!”

* * *

 

Later that night, Adrien finds himself unable to sleep.

_‘Kid, you should rest. You need to keep your energies up for tomorrow.’_

_‘I’m not tired, Plagg.’_

_‘Yes, you are. You just don’t notice it yet.’_

_‘Maybe you need to tell me a bedtime story so I can sleep.’_

_‘Ugh, no, go to count some sheep or something.’_

Adrien laughs, but it’s a short laugh.

_‘Ok, something it’s bothering you. Spit it out.’_

_‘It’s nothing.’_

_‘Don’t lie to me, kid. Remember we share minds and sensations, so I totally know that something is eating you right now.’_

Adrien hesitates, but he realizes is dumb trying to hide something from his kwami at this point.

_‘I just…I was…’_

_‘Plagg, what if Ladybug can’t fix us?’_

_‘…’_

_‘Plagg-?’_

_‘Don’t think about that, kid. Of course Ladyluck is going to fix everything.’_

_‘B-but what if she can’t? What if what we have is incurable? The Miraculous Cure didn’t work the first time, what assures m-us that there’s something more powerful than that?  I can’t even detransform and-‘_

_‘You can.’_

_‘What?’_

_‘What I said. You can detransform.’_

_‘Plagg, last time it was too painful and-‘_

_‘But you were able to. You were fine after that. The more time you keep with the transformation on, the more painful it will become later. It will almost impossible to try it, kid, it will ki-‘_

When the kwami stops abruptly, Adrien doesn’t need to hear the rest of the sentence to know what will happen.

He could feel the sorrow coming from his friend when he talked.

_‘What about you?’_

_‘What about me.’_

_‘You were melting after I detransformed. If I detransform again, what will happen to you this time?’_

_‘…’_

_‘Plagg, stop doing that silence thing, you are making me nervous.’_

_‘I can’t die kid, if that’s what worries you the most.’_

_‘But-‘_

_‘I’m a being made of energy. And energy cannot be created or destroyed…_

_‘…it can only be changed from one form to another.’_ They both think at unison.

_‘So like I said, you don’t need to worry about me.’_

_‘I’m not going to detransform, Plagg.’_

_‘Kid, I just told you-‘_

_‘I know. I know what you told me but we are both in this mess together and we are going to get out of it the same way. We are partners, aren’t we? So Ladybug will cure us both at the same time and that’s my last word.’_

Finally, Adrien yawns.

_‘Rest, kiddo.’_

_‘Yeah, yeah, I heard you –_ yawn _\- I heard you...mom.’_

Plagg nothing says.

It usually doesn’t take much time until Adrien is asleep and today is no different. Plagg generally uses that time to think about the akumas, about his holder’s life, about his past holders.  The kwami can’t sleep either, but he is content on guarding his human’s sleep. He focuses on the constant rhythm of his heart, in the way his chest moves up and down because of his breathing.

It reassures him that he is still alive.

That there’s still time.

_‘Once upon a time…there was a brave, curious kitten. And his name…his name was Léon…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how many easter eggs could you find in this chapter? ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on my tumblr australet789.tumblr if you want to see more updates about this fic :D


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